Author's note

 

Hello dear readers!

 

 

I hope you'll like this story and thank you for reading it. Though it is not yet complete, I am updating it as soon as I could.

 

 

Warning!!!: Please do not copy/steal the story or concept of this story.

 

Copyright holder of this text: Kenzhie Addie

 

Images copyright holder: I do not own any of the image(s) I use in this story◆No copyright infringement intended ◆The image(s) is/are use solely for the purpose of making the story more vivid◆The author intended to use the image(s) only to describe the characters in this plot◆

 

Proofreading and editing is done by yours truly: Kenzhie Addie

 

Thank you and enjoy reading!

 

Also don't forget to comment or suggest/add to your favorites if you come to like this story. It would be a great deal of help and means a lot to me. I love y'all ♥

 

 

Yours truly,

 

Kenzhie Addie xoxo

 

 

◆Feel free to message me◆I'll gladly reply to your messages as soon as I can◆

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

 

(If you see some grammatical errors, spelling errors, incorrect punctuation or any typo errors please do inform me as I am not perfect and might have overlooked some of the incorrect texts and I don't have the time in the world to proofread all the chapters. I would be greatly indebted to you if you will be so kind to inform me anything about the said errors above. ) ;)

Chapter one: Mental confusion

 

Jennifer Lawrence as Sydney Wood

 

 

 

 

  She's Sydney Wood, seventeen, known as the wicked bitch, wretched witch, ruthless brat, Ice Queen, mean, etc. in Manhattan High were rich kids dominate. She's gorgeous, popular, and damn wealthy. Her family is one of the richest and well-known people not only in Manhattan but almost all over America and other countries. Her mom, Jacqueline Babineaux-Wood, a beautiful french-Irish woman even at her age of forty-five, runs a worldwide famous fashion line called High Society(HS). The fashionable items are marked with high quality that defines the people in high society and the prices cost almost a fortune as what the name implies, only people with great standard and status or the elite can afford it. Her dad, on the other hand, is a shipping magnate of some famous textiles and some sort of stuffs. Well, truthfully, she doesn't know particularly about her dad's business and she doesn't give a damn care about it since she had became not well-acquainted with her dad since he and her mom got divorced when she was nine. Her dad got married again right after the divorce with some small time young businesswoman and now they have a seven year old daughter which she hates with all her might. As for her mom, she remains single but has different boyfriends occasionally. Her family is broken and so is she and that may be the reason for her eccentric personality and her hatred for boys. In fact, she doesn't have a boyfriend or rather, she never had a boyfriend in her entire existence and she wonders if she'll ever have. She's maybe pretty popular but she has no time for boys who drools over her and maybe some of them are betting whoever gets her on their bed first. Her being inexperienced and a virgin is well-known to her society of friends or so-called friends and she's not ashamed of it. In fact, she acts dignified about it that's why even though most people especially girls hate her guts, they respect her and idolize her even envy her. Who wouldn't? She's the face of some famous fashion mag covers and a model at her mom's company. There were also tons of offers from other commercial companies to make her as their endorser. She's tall with slender but curvaceous body even at her young age and a face lots of girls are envious about. She has big green eyes with thick lashes, perfectly cute pointing nose, red pouty lips, and a wavy dark brown hair that covers her oval-shaped face.

"Sydney! Wait!" Shouted a girl named, Becky Williams, the school's publication editor and the daughter of a publication company owner which is also affiliated with my mom's company and the Williams are deeply indebted to the Woods. The poor girl is running disgracefully toward me.

"Miss Wood." I corrected, looking down at her sternly. She's a short and chubby girl with freckles all over her face and a thick pair of glasses hanging on her nose. Oh! How I hated people with no sense of fashion.

"M-m-iss W-wood." She followed stuttering, feeling intimidated by my stare.

"Good. You should know, I only let people close to me call me by my first name and don't we want to keep our relationship business-like Miss Williams?" I pointed out with a cold gaze which made Becky quavered. "So, what's the fuss about?" I eyed her.

"Oh! ye-eah! The cover for the school's mag is done. Can you please check this out?" She sputtered.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the draft for the cover of our school magazine. They're featuring me for this month's school opening and the start of my senior year and since I became the new student representative of this school. No one can question that since I'm smart and came from a prestigious family. I'm the perfect model student nobody can protest even my friends in the Elite society. They even say I'm too perfect but even I have a shady past and a dark secret that my family and I have been protecting until now. I tried not to sigh and shook off the horrible flashbacks and focused on the paper that I'm holding. It's a picture of me when I was featured in Seventeen magazine last year.

"Outstanding." I said, pushing the paper back to Becky and walked off together with my girlfriends.

"Thanks! I will publish the mag as soon as it's done!" She squeaked happily.

 

"Scram ugly!" I heard Lisa spat out at poor Becky. I just shook my head and continued walking to my first class. I don't wanna meddle with my girls' mean streak. I'm mean, but not too vulgar yet what's the difference when we're all the same mean wealthy girls.

 

======####======

 

"Did you know?" Lucy whispered, pouting her red painted lips. She's sitting beside me in Math class. She's quite known for spreading gossip in the whole campus even in Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites. Her words are like viral diseases spreading so fast like an epidemic.

 

"What?" I asked impassively.

 

"There's a new guy on campus." She started.

 

"So?"

 

"He came from LA, I heard. Just in time for class to start."

 

"What's so interesting about it?"

 

"He's the only son of a wealthy family dealing with winery in California that is and they're famous for exporting high quality wines all over the world. So, he's a goddamn heir." She said, sounding like a reporter from the Manhattan society news.

 

"Quit it." I said dismissively.

 

"No, you should hear this, Syd." She insisted." The most interesting part, I heard from a reliable source of mine that he got kicked out from school because of drugs and fighting. He's a black sheep of their family, that's the bad side, but the good side is, I heard he's dangerously hot!" Lucy snitched excitedly.

 

"Whatever."

 

"Hmp! You're no fun, Syd." She pouted.

 

"You should be a gossip reporter, Lucy. No offense." I sighed in boredom.

"None taken." She smirked and kept quiet when the teacher arrived.

 

========####=======

 

I'm typing something on my iPhone while walking when I hit something hard and almost lost my balance, but something or someone caught me reflexively before that even happens. I angrily looked up at whoever had bumped into me to intimidate and bawled at the unlucky person, but I was rendered speechless when I saw the guy. He was leaning at me closely, I can even smell his fresh minty breath on my face. His gray eyes are piercing through me, scanning my face, then smirked knowingly, like he knew I was captivated by him for a split second which made me disgusted and pushed him forcefully. I almost staggered by the impact. He may look like a lanky kid because of his oversized sweater, but when my hands touched his chest briefly when I pushed him, I was shocked to feel his hard muscles beneath it.

"You 'Kay?" He asked more amused than worried. I want to scream at him, but I calmed myself and gathered my composure.

 

"Fortunately, yes. However, please don't walk like an idiot and look where you're going. I can sue you, you know." I said in a sarcastic but business-like tone. I know it's somewhat my fault for not paying attention when I walk but I never admit to my mistakes and today is not an exception.

 

"Sue? For what?" He cocked his head in a mocking and challenging way.

 

"For almost ruining my designer clothes. These cost a fortune if you didn't know which I perfectly believe you don't." I said calmly, pointing my forefinger on my clothes but I really want to explode in his smug face.

 

"Well, you're better off without them anyway." He mumbled smugly.

 

"What?!" I burst out uncontrollably. "Y-you pervert!” I yelled incredulously and made him chuckle.

 

"I'm not, but I want to if it's you.” He winked. "See yah 'round, Miss Terror." He said, flashing me a taunting smile, showing his perfect white teeth, before he left. I just stood there mortified.

Did he just sexually harassed me?! That jerk! You're going to pay for this! I screamed in my head.

He is the very first person who caught me off guard and made me lose my composure. I immediately put him on my unwanted list. It's true, I was captivated by his handsome face for a swift moment, well, it's my first time admiring a guy. He is after all, very handsome and tall. His gray eyes are his asset. It's very bewitching looking at those gray specs, but I hate him nonetheless. I hate all men. I sighed and looked around if anybody had seen the tragic and horrific scene just a while ago and to my luck, none.

 

======####======

 

I was just in time for French.

"Bonjour." I greeted my french teacher with a sweet smile plastered on my face and then went to a seat at the back. A few seconds later, a tall boy entered the room nonchalantly and gave his assignment slip to our teacher. I was awestruck when I saw the cocky boy from earlier. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him on campus before not that I intend to gaze upon any guys but a handsome looking guy like him won't be left unnoticed even by me, I should admit. Is he the new student Lucy is talking about? He doesn't look dangerous though.. Hot? well.. yeah.. with his tousled wavy dark hair that looks like he just raked his fingers through it. That's hot.. His fashion statement is a big turn-off as much as his cocky personality though. I observed that almost all the girls in class appeared to be enamored by him and almost swoon on his feet. Pathetic. I thought and turned my gaze back to him and blushed irrepressibly as our eyes met. He caught me staring and saw a glint of brief surprise in his eyes but was replaced with his familiar cocky grin. I turned away disgusted to myself.

Why do I even bother giving my precious attention to him?

I held my breath when I heard him walking to my direction. I silently prayed hard that he'll not sit beside me not even near me but to my astonishment, he sat on the empty seat at my left just next to me.

How dare him sit next to me?! No one dared in this class but him!

I sighed but didn't bother to gaze or complain as to why he sat there. I just don't want to exert any energy I have on him.

"Fancy seeing you here again, Miss terror." He said grinning. I ignored him, not giving him even a tiny glance. I was thankful he didn't pursue on talking to me, but his long, slender fingers were tapping endlessly on his desk, distracting me. I glared at him indignantly.

"Stop that." I hissed softly.

"What?" He asked innocently and continued tapping. I picked up my glittered blue long pen and hit his fingers lightly.

"That." I pointed and went to listen again to the lecture.

"Ahhh.. This.." He said innocently to himself, tapping the desk again lightly. I whisked harshly to glare at him once more.

"What's your problem?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"Nah, just glad to catch your attention." He said flashing me a killer smile that almost killed me. He has the sexiest smile I have ever seen, well, I haven't been attentive toward the opposite sex except from this irritating guy so I wouldn't know, would I?

I'm Sydney Wood for crying out loud! No guy can overpass my standard. No guy can overwhelm me. I scolded myself inwardly.

I was so relieved when the bell rang. I stood up hastily, still poised, glanced at him and said;

"Don't sit here next time. Go find another one. I know you're new here but you don't wanna sit near me if you'll come to know who I am." I stated giving him my most intimidating stare, but seems like the bastard didn't even recoiled the slightest instead he smiled, a devilish smile.

"Oh, I know you too well.. Pretty harsh little thing.. But pretty nonetheless.." He murmured huskily.

"Good. Then you know damn well what I'm capable of. Stop bothering me, don't even dare glance at me." I said steely and walked off.

"Meanie. I like that." I heard him say before I was completely out of the room.

 

=========######=========

 

"Five." I heard Lisa announced while appraising a guy who passed by her way. It's lunch break and my friends are there not to eat, but to make fun of the students lower than their social status. Our school is about social status anyway.

"I'll give six for the Gucci Loafer he's wearing." Samantha critiqued, smirking. The other girls nodded in agreement. I grimaced watching them like some fashion critique skimming everyone who passes by their keen eyes. I made that game, but looking at them, doing what I'm doing and without me, irritates me. Harry had noticed my entrance, seeing my disdainful look, stood up to greet me.

"Buzz off." He hissed at the nerdy short guy who was standing in his way. The poor boy scrammed like a lost puppy. I just rolled my eyes at that.

"I love it when you do that, Princess." He said grinning.

"Princess.." I spoke of the word disgustingly. "Do I look like a princess to you?" I flared my temper at him. I'm already not in the mood since earlier and he's adding to my irritation. Harry is gorgeous, tall, blonde, rich and somewhat a friend but he's pushy. He really doesn't know when to stop. He knows that I don't like to have any relationship with any guys but, he's pushing himself to me every day he gets a chance.

"Oh bummer. I almost forgot. You're a Queen. He said emphasizing the word Queen and bowed in a sardonic way.

"Quit it." I complained nonchalantly.

"Sydney Wood, the high and mighty Queen of Manhattan High. Someday, you'll bow down to a King." He declared smugly.

"Maybe. But I'm sure you're not the King. I flashed him a bittersweet smile.

"Let's see." He mumbled. "But that's what I love about you, Syd. Feisty girls are my kinda thing after all." He smiled at me charmingly but it didn't affect me a tiny bit at all unlike that jerky guy I've just met. My thoughts were interrupted when my IPhone beeped and saw Lucy's name on the screen. She sent me a message. I glanced at her sitting together with the other girls giggling, she waved at me and motioned to check the message. I'm kinda annoyed of their actions but still I opened it. It says;

 

Syd, d guy I mentioned about earlier,

d dangerously hot guy, rmember?

He's here! lukin @ u!!! 12 o'clock,

near d cafeteria entrance. I envy u gurl!

 

I frowned and looked around the cafeteria especially at the direction Lucy stated and was surprised to meet a pair of gray eyes staring at me intently with a steely expression.

What's up with him? I wondered.

"Who's that punk?" Harry asked vindictively, getting my attention back at him.

"Huh? Who?" I asked, momentarily confused. I saw his blue eyes gone dark. Looks like he's angry about something, but I don't give a damn care.

"That out-of-place bastard." He pointed his chin in the direction I was staring not a while ago.

"Who knows, just another bastard trying to catch my attention, I guess. You should know, that's what you've been doing after all." I said smugly at him.

"That's my girl. At least, I know we're on the same page. If I can't have you, no one else can. Remember that, my Queen." He said darkly which I didn't like. Who the hell is he to threaten me? I'm Sydney Wood. No one can boss me around. I told myself but ignored Harry instead. I don't want him as an enemy. He may be obsessed of me but he can be cruel to people he hates sometimes. I'm not scared of him, just precautions won't hurt.

I just gave him a cold shrugged and went to the girls who are calling me at the moment. They're probably just wanna gossip about nonsense stuffs but I'd rather have that than to deal with stupid male testosterone.

 

======####======

 

"Damn!" I kicked the tire of my blue Audi R8 sports car. I got more irritated when I saw a scrape formed on my new Jimmy Choo leather boots.

"Ugh! These are my new favorite, damn it!" I fumed. I was about to go to my pictorial for High Society Winter catalogue--It's at seven and now it's already six twenty-five--when I got a flat tire. My mom doesn't like tardy people and that includes me. I must have hit something sharp on the road on the way. I picked up my phone and dialed my mom's number. I'll have to accept her offer now. My mom asked me earlier if I need a Limo to fetch me, but I turned down her offer since I brought a car with me today.

"Oh no.. no.. no!!!!" I screamed at my dying phone. It screamed low battery before it totally drained empty.

"Hell, just my luck." I uttered in disbelief. I don't wanna take a cab but I guess the situation didn't give me any choice. I got my stuffs and locked my car door when a sleek black Porsche 911 club coupe halted next to my car. Maybe I still have some luck today. It's probably one of my friends. I eyed the car waiting for whoever is driving it to come out instead, the passenger window slowly went down and a person I least expected or the right word is, the last person I want to see, popped his head in the open window.

"Hey, seems like you need a ride." He offered smiling.

"No, thanks. I'll take a cab." I replied dismissively.

"You sure?" He eyed me and when I didn't answer. He didn't push and started his car.

"Hope you get a cab soon." He said before he drove slowly away. He was just a few meters away when the rain started pouring.

"Really?!" I shouted, looking up. "Where the hell are those goddamn cabs?!

I'm getting wet and irritated to the fullest of my temper pedometer. I was surprised when the black Porsche reversed back to where I'm standing, dripping wet.

"Get in." He said seriously and opened the passenger side which surprised me since he's been all cocky and a pest earlier. I looked at him ready to turn him down when he spoke again.

"Don't argue, I think it'll take some time before a cab will pass this area and you know it."

"No--"

"You're all wet now. Don't be stubborn." He said, sounding annoyed. I want to kick him in the gut, but he's right and I hated it that he's right.

"C'mon, your make-up is all smeared. I don't think you want to let anyone see that, Miss Popular." He urged on, back on his cockiness again.

"Ugh! Fine!" I said, alarmed and got in his car swiftly.

"Good girl." He smiled and winked at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Don't ever speak about this to anyone, like ever. Hear me?" I warned him. He gestured zipping his lips and to my utter annoyance, he burst out laughing.

"Are you laughing at me?!" I hissed, taking my compact mirror out from my bag and almost yelp in horror seeing my face. My hair is a mess and my make-up was already smeared. I looked like a frigging clown.

That's why there are waterproof cosmetics, if only I knew I'm gonna be soaking wet from rain. This is my second humiliation with this unlikable guy! I castigated myself.

"Sorry. Anyway, here." He said handing me a box of tissue while trying to stop himself from laughing. I snatched it from him and started wiping the already smudge make-up off my face.

"You're welcome." He mumbled but, I just ignored him. "Name's Cole." He spoke again.

"What?"

"I said my name's Collin Harrison. Just call me Cole."

"Whatever. Just drive. I'm going to be late." I said, shaking a little. The heater in the car is on but I still feel cold because my blouse is soaking wet. To my astonishment he took off his black sweater and tossed it to me. Although he still has a shirt on, he looked sexy with just wearing that thin white v-necked shirt. It showed his toned muscled arms and chest. When I looked up at him, he was smirking. I looked away, flushed but wore his sweater without any complaints because I don't wanna freeze to death but the damn thing smelled of his cologne and it smelled good.

"So, Miss Popular knows how to blush." He teased.

"Shut up." He just chuckled.

"Where to?"

"Midtown, west 34th street."

"Up we go. By the way, you look pretty without the make-up." He complimented while starting the car.

"I know." I said with my chin up, but deep down I'm damn affected by that mere compliment.

Ugh! I hate this. I don't wanna feel this. I don't need any complications. I promise this will be the last time I'll ever talk to this bothersome guy. I reminded myself.

"I love your confidence sweetheart." He said grinning and drove the car at full speed.

The sooner I get off this car, the better...

 

====####====

 

 

Chapter two: At the enemy's lair

Chace Crawford as Cole

 

 

 

 

 I woke up feeling slightly disoriented. I blinked my eyes a couple of times trying to shake off my blurry vision.

Where the hell am I? I looked around the large room. It's dimly lit, but I can see that I'm not in my room. The room is very spacious with modern furniture, expensive-looking dark curtains draped over big glass windows, it exudes luxury and... Very manly! I sat up aggressively by the thought of a man and flinched when I felt a sudden dizziness.

Why am I here? I'm confused and a bit dizzy. I'm supposed to be at the HS building in Midtown. My thoughts were interrupted by a male's voice outside the room talking to someone on the phone, I presumed, since I can only hear a one sided conversation. I tiptoed toward the door, alarmed and ready to kick some ass. I'd learned kick boxing two years ago not for self-defense, but for fitness and boredom. Who would've thought that I might need it now. I positioned myself behind the door and when the door opened and a tall guy entered, I kicked and aimed for his throat but to my dismay and astonishment, the guy has a Spider-man reflex. He instinctively dodged my leg, moved backwards, and grabbed my ankle.

"Such a lovely leg you have here, Miss terror. You wouldn't want to have a scrape on here, do you?" A husky and annoyingly familiar voice said and ran his forefinger on my ankle up to my bared knee. I gasped furiously and wiggled my leg.

"What the hell! Let it go, you perverted jerk!" I hissed and smacked my left fist on his right arm. He winced by my surprise attack, but he didn't budge a tiny bit. Shit! He's strong. I'm utterly infuriated at the thought of being defenseless against this plague of a guy. "What the frigging hell am I doing here?!" I charged at him fiercely.

“Hey! That hurts you know." He grabbed my right wrist and feinted a hurt expression. "We're in my condo in Tribeca, by the way." He said coolly. It pretty much got me irritated. Why the frigging hell did he bring me here?! I was about to throw my left fist at him, but the bastard is very quick. He backed off a little and surprised me by swiftly letting my hand and leg go and grabbed me by my waist, swung me up, threw me on the bed again and smirked at me like the devil he is. I'm really at my limit. I furiously got up again and throw punches at him.

"You bastard! What the hell did you do to me?! I'm gonna---" He grabbed both of my wrists easily and twisted them on my back, stilling me. "Aw!"

"Hey hey! Quit it little tigress. You'll only hurt yourself. Calm down, I didn't do anything to you... Well.. Not what you think it is." He smiled shyly, remembering something.

"You!--" I was cut off when he pushed me back on the bed with his weight on me, pinning me on the bed.

"Hey--I'm sorry. I was just kidding around. Never thought you'd give me a hell of a fight. Aren't you a vixen, I'm amazed, Sydney Wood." He stared at me with his gray eyes intensely. I became tense all of a sudden. His face is very close to mine and his minty breath is distracting me senselessly. My eyes widen in alarm when he lowered his face not letting go of my gaze. I can't move because the gap of our faces are an inch apart and if I move, our lips will brush no doubt about that. I bit my lower lip nervously, thinking that he'll kiss me. He smiled genuinely for the first time since we met this morning and pinched my cheek fondly surprising me again.

"You're pretty cute all tousled and flushed on my bed, Sydney." He whispered and made my cheeks beet red. I have to admit, it's kinda sexy hearing him call my name.

"S-shut up. D-don't call me by my first name. I don't like it. We're not even friends." I stuttered, my voice sounding gruff. I really want to slap myself from acting like a scared kid. He chuckled and I'm stunned that I find it fascinating hearing his hearty laugh and it bothered me. I pushed him, but my strength wasn't enough to make him budge the slightest.

"Are you finding this uncomfortable, Sydney?" He uttered my name teasingly, ignoring what I've said. "Cause I'd like to stay in this position the whole day staring at your unguarded but cute reactions. This is quite fun." He gave me a wicked smile. This will not do. I gathered all my wits and stared at his dilated gray eyes, looking as calm as I could.

"Get off me, jerk." I pushed him again and I don't know if I'll be glad or disappointed that he sat up and let me go.

"OK, now enough with the fun. Before you think the worse of me, I didn't do anything bad even if I was tempted. He grinned at me boyishly. "I guess you're wondering why you're here." I gave him a Duh-it's-obvious-look. "You fainted after you got out of my car and I brought you here because I don't know where I should bring you---

"You should have brought me to the hospital." I accused and sat up straight.

"Well, It was on the spur of the moment. I didn't think about that." He grinned and scratched his beautiful chiseled jaw, looking like a lost boy and it somewhat distracted me. "I called a doctor though, she came here half an hour ago and got you checked. She said you need to eat properly. The reason why you fainted was because your stomach is empty." He said, a hint of disapproval is obvious in his voice. "C'mon, I made something for you. You should eat." He stood up and offered his hand to me. I just stared at it, frowning.

"I'm not hungry and I need to go--" My face reddened utterly from total embarrassment when my stomach grumbled loudly. Damn! Just what I needed! I silently cursed myself. He didn't laugh, but I can damn well see that he is just forcing himself to keep a straight face to stifle a laugh.

"Well, that's the cue. C'mon, don't tell me you're on some kind of a diet. You're thin enough already." He ran his eyes all over my body to examine me and it involuntarily sent shivers down to my spine. "The table is already set." He urged on. I sighed heavily.

"Fine. You don't know how to give up, do you?" I looked up at him feeling exasperated.

"Nah. Never-give-up is written all over my forehead, can't you see?" He jested. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"Let's get it over, shall we?"

"Sure, oh and my shirt definitely looks hot on you." He said innocently. My eyes widen when I finally realized that I'm just wearing an oversize blue shirt under my undergarments.

"What the hell! You!--"

"You were soaking wet. I had no choice and I closed my eyes. Honest!" He burst out laughing after seeing my reaction and ran instinctively out of the room. I fiercely chased after him, but he was way too fast. I stopped midway when I felt dizzy again. I skipped breakfast and lunch today because of the photo shoot that's why I'm feeling dizzy right now---Shit! The photo shoot. Mom is definitely furious right now. Ugh! This is my lucky day. I thought ironically. I was almost on the top of the stairs when I swayed a bit. I instinctively grabbed the handrail to steady myself.

"Hey, are you OK?" He ran back to me with a worried look when he saw my unsteady stance. He didn't wait for me to answer and scooped me up in his arms.

"Damn it! Put me down!" I protested, but he just continued down the stairs ignoring my weak struggle. He only let me down when we've entered into the spacious dining area.

"Down you go." He grinned at me. I took that opportunity to kick him in the shin and to my delight, he knelt down in pain.

"Damn! I think you broke my leg." He complained, but I can see that he is amused.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

"OK! OK! Got it, baby. Chill. You're so serious. What's your problem?" He grumbled raising his two arms in surrender.

"You're asking what's my problem?! Seriously?! I got a flat tire, got wet in the rain, fainted because I didn't eat so I'll look good for that stupid photo shoot! A photo shoot that I wasn't able to attend to since I got stuck in here instead! You frigging undressed me and God knows what else you did! And don't frigging call me baby!" I screamed at him, tears started to fall on my cheeks. All the exhaustion is wearing me out. He hugged me unceremoniously and I didn't have the strength to protest. My stupid tears just won't stop from flowing.

"Hush now.. Baby, don't cry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He cajoled while stroking my hair gently.

"D-don't c-call me B-aby." I croaked and sniffed in an unladylike manner. I felt rather than hear his chuckle on my face and oddly it made me calm down.

"OK, now you should eat before the food gets cold." He held my hand and ushered me to sit on the chair in front of a table full of different dishes. My mouth watered when I whiffed the delicious aroma of the dishes in front of me.

 

=====###====

 

"Did you cook all of this?" I asked, astonished. The dishes tasted all good.

"Yeah. Do you like the taste?" He is sitting in front of me looking amused at my strong appetite while having his own fill. I'm eating more than I'm used to. My mom is going to kill me if she only knew how many calories I had eaten today.

"Honestly, yeah. They tasted really great. You cook like a mom." I blurted out and made him laugh.

"What's this dish called?" I pointed at the food that I'm chewing at the moment.

"That's chicken stew with olive and lemon. It's my fave Italian made Western dish."

"Hmm.. now, mine too." I whispered inadvertently and it made him smile.

"I can always cook for you if come and visit anytime." He offered. I suddenly went back to my senses after my stomach have been filled.

"No way! Visiting a guy's home is not in my list. That's insane!" I hissed incredulously. I'm surprised that I'm even having this conversation with a guy, even more in his home.

"I see. So, this is your first time in a guy's place?" He asked, looking pleased with the information.

"And this will be the last." I stood up. "Although, I don't like accepting any help from any guy, thanks. I need to go now. Where are my things?" I said steely and saw him shaking his head looking skeptical.

"Alright, I think you should go. It's already late anyway." He said while glancing at his watch. I instinctively glanced at my Chanel Camelia watch. It's past nine o'clock.

"Shit! Where's my phone? I need to call my mom. She'll fret!" I panicked.

"Actually while you were asleep, she called." He said, scratching his jaw. It seemed like a habit, I noticed.

"What?! Don't tell me you answered it?" He nodded. "Damn it! What did you tell her?"

"Don't panic. I didn't say anything bad. I just informed her that you weren't feeling well and is resting in my place so you can't come--"

"What?! You told her I'm in your house?! Are you crazy?!" I'd gone hysterical. My mom has been dying to make me go on a date since she knew that I'm a man hater and now that she knew I'm with a guy, she'll definitely pester me to meet him or even date him. This is a real dilemma.

"What's wrong with it? I just told her the truth so she won't worry." He looked at me with confusion in his eyes.

"You're damn right she's not worried. It's the other way around!" I hissed and left him to retrieve my things in his room. His place is really beautiful, but I don't have the leisure time to admire it.

 

====####====

 

"Here. They're dry cleaned." I took my already dried clothes from him and silently went to his bathroom, adjacent to his room. The bathroom is also very wide with modern amenities. I wondered if he is staying alone in this big and spacious condominium. I haven't seen anyone until now. I shook off my growing curiosity and put on my clothes hastily. I tied my already messy dark hair in a ponytail and washed my face. I peered at my reflection in the mirror and cringed. My big green eyes looked much bigger and darker because of my dilated pupils. My face is all flushed. I looked like a flimsy vulnerable little girl, gone is the matured-looking and sophisticated chick who looks serenely self-possessed all the time and free from agitation. I shook my head in disapproval and went out. He's sitting on the bed, eyeing me warily. I ignored him and grabbed my phone. It's on his bedside table, charging. I checked if there are mails, text messages, or missed calls and I wasn't surprised to see that there are tons of them. I decided to read them later at home. I was about to put my phone in my Prada Saffiano Righe Satchel when it rang.

"Mom--"

"Are you alright, Darling? When are you coming home?"

"I feel a lot better now, Mom. I'm about to go home---"

"Is your boyfriend going to bring you home?--"

"Boyfriend?!" I shot him a glance and he flashed me a charming smile hearing the word boyfriend.

"No, mom. I'll call a cab and he's not my boy---"

"I'll bring her home, Mrs. Wood!" He cut me off. I glowered at him, but he just ignored me.

"Honey, let him or I'll worry. See you at home." She sounded excited and it's bothersome.

"Mom--" I want to protest, but the line was already dead.

"It's settled then." He smirked. I ignored him and stomped out of the room, but I can hear him following me.

 

====####====

 

"Where to?"

"54 East 64th street." I brooded and stared at the window. I'm in no mood to talk or look at the irritating but irresistible gorgeous guy beside me. I feel like he is starting a fire in my cold heart and he is gradually melting my icy walls and that is terrifying me. I am known as the Ice Queen and falling in love with some new guy in school would set an uproar--Shit! Fall in love?! Where did that come from? I just met him this morning! I can't even remember his name. I massaged a sudden throbbing in my left temple. This is probably what Lucy meant by Cole being dangerously hot. He is indeed dangerous, well for me. I'm like a moth in his fire. Shit! Shit! What am I even thinking at this moment?!

"Are you OK?" He asked, looking worried. I just ignored him again and the rest of the drive. I just speak when he is asking for the direction. I exhaled a breath of relief when we finally arrived at my place. We stopped at the Five-story French inspired mansion on the Upper East side of Manhattan. I swiftly got out of the car without saying anything or glancing at him. I stopped in my tracks when I saw our front porch's light pole switched on and my mom went out looking curious and excited about something. My eyes widen when Mrs. Jacqueline Babineaux-Wood, now known as Miss Jacque Babineaux, is striding gracefully toward the car. I hurriedly bent down to the tinted car window, knowing that he can see me well. I mouthed the word "Go" and waved my pretty manicured fingers to shoo him away, but to my big disappointment he got out of the car and greeted my mom charmingly.

"Good evening, Ma'am."

My mom kissed my cheek, then turned her gaze at him.

"What a pleasant evening to you too..?"

"Collin Harrison. Just call me Cole, Mrs. Wood." He smiled and offered his hand to my mom and my mom took it gladly, looking completely charmed by him.

"Harrison.. The Harrison Corp.? Harrison Winery and Shipping Corp?" My mom looked stunned.

What's so astounding about it? I wondered.

"Yes, Mrs. Wood."

"Oh please! Just call me, Ms. Babineaux or just Jacque." Cole nodded respectfully.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Babineaux. I think I have to go now. It's getting late."

"Come, have some tea or coffee first before you drive home, dear."

"Mom! He needs to go home." I protested.

"Sydney Wood. I didn't let you study in a prestigious school just to be rude. Where are your manners?" My mom looked at me steely, letting me know that this is something not to be argued about and so I kept my mouth shut. "So, Cole, darling? What do you say? It's just my way of thanking you for keeping my daughter safe." I stared at Cole, warning him to decline the offer, but he just ignored me just as I ignored him during the trip.

"A coffee, it is." He winked at me and at that moment I just want to beat him up and wipe that annoying smirk off his handsome face.

"Merci." My mom took Cole's arm and led him to their home.

Shit! Mom likes him! She's completely smitten with him. No! No! No!

 

====####====

 

"Rita, a cup of coffee please for this charming boy and a tea for me." Jacque ordered the young Mexican girl, one of our femme de chambre or what we call our helper.

"The usual, Madame?"

"Yes, dear. How about you, Sydney? Do you want to have some green tea too? It's our favorite, Mariage Frères. I sighed and gave Cole another disdainful look, but he seemed to be enjoying my discomfort.

"Same here, Rita." I almost hissed at the poor girl who staggered toward the kitchen.

"Sydney, you seem to be in a bad mood today. Is it about the photo shoot? Don't worry about it, dear. We re-scheduled it on this Wednesday." I sighed another mouthful of air. I'm getting nervous at what my mom is up to. "Oh, speaking of which, Cole, You should come to our Winter Collection fashion show this coming Saturday. Sydney will be stunning, I assure you. Well, that is if you're available and interested in fashion shows." Jacque continued, looking hopeful. I gaped at my mom but she's not paying any attention to me. This is what I've been dreading to happen. My mom getting an opportunity to manipulate things, especially when it comes to my love life. Jacque fears that I will end up hating men all throughout my life because of what happened between her and my dad. I shot Cole another warning look, but he is not looking at me.

"Sure. That sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for the invitation, Ms. Babineaux. I'll definitely come. I hope Sydney wouldn't mind." He smiled at me sweetly. I glared at him and frowned. I need a plan to get rid of him. I'm after all, the Queen of the meanies at school. It's my thing hitting my enemies below the belt.

"Don't you have more important things to do, like catching up with the school lessons since you got kicked out from your previous school?" I smiled at him wryly. His eyes darkened, gone was his playful smile. It was very brief, but I was able to see the dangerous look in his gray, cold eyes. In that fleeting moment, I felt a tinge of fear toward him. But then he smiled again, looking oblivious of what I've said.

"Sydney Wood! That's so rude of you!" I rolled my eyes. Jacque's face looked crimson because of embarrassment and anger at my ill manner. What do I expect, Jacqueline Babineaux is all for proper etiquette.

"That's alright, Ms. Babineaux. What Sydney said was true." He stated. I silently sucked in my breath. His admittance caught me off guard. I thought he is going to deny it. "But she doesn't know the reason why." He glanced at me and smiled dryly.

"Oh, you don't have to explain, darling. Looking at you, I know you're a good guy. There must be a valid reason for that unfortunate outcome. However, it's good that you're honest about it." I rolled my eyes again. Things didn't turn out the way I wanted. My mom is utterly charmed and blinded by Cole, no doubt she's rooting for him and she couldn't find any fault in him.

"Thanks, but I guess, I really have to go now Sydney, Ms. Babineaux. You must be tired and Sydney and I have a class tomorrow." He looked at me briefly then at my mom.

Finally!

"Oh, I'm sorry to keep you here, dear. It's good to know that my daughter here has someone at school to take care of her--"

"Mom!" My eyes widened, but my mom just ignored me.

"Sure. She's a sweet little thing. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her for you, Ms. Babineaux."

Ugh! I am not hearing this crap!

"That's so sweet of you Cole. I'll keep that mind." She smiled and squeezed Cole's hands. "This old lady must retire now."

"No way, you look pretty young, Ms. Babineaux and very beautiful. No doubt Sydney has taken her charm after you." I rolled my eyes again for the hundredth time.

"Oh, Sydney! I like your boyfriend." I uttered another protest but nobody is listening to me. "Good night, Cole. I'll expect to see you on Saturday."

"Yes, Ms. Babineaux. Good night." He flashed a boyish smile at me and my mom.

"Sydney see Cole to his car and apologize." I sighed, exasperated, but did not complain and led Cole out.

 

=====####====

 

"Don't expect me to say sorry." I said begrudgingly when we're in front of his car.

"Well, I expect nothing less from the popular ice queen of Manhattan High." He then moved swiftly and gave me a surprise attack. One that I surely will never forget. HE KISSED ME! ON MY FRIGGING LIPS! I tried to push him, but he was way too strong. He held both of my hands and kissed me roughly, punishing me. I gasped for air, but Cole took that opportunity to kiss me deeper, exploring the inside of my mouth with his skilled tongue. I wiggled my head, but Cole pushed me on the side of his car with his weight, pinning me. I got tired from my useless struggles and the fact that the kiss is distracting and confusing my mind. I stopped fighting him and involuntarily, I started kissing him back. I heard him groan in pleasure and then his kiss became gentle but sensual. It's mind-blowing and I feel like burning. I felt Cole's grip on my hands loosen and I absently raised one of my hands to his neck and the other raked through his hair. A moan escaped from my throat when he finally let me go, both gasping for air. He stared at me fervently while I looked stunned and dewy-eyed.

"Whew! That was one hell of a passionate kiss. Not bad for an Ice Queen." He croaked and leaned his forehead on the top of my head. I just remained stoned and speechless and I heard him chuckle. He straightened and stared down at me, looking amused. "See you tomorrow, baby." He gave me a smack on the lips. "Dream of me." He grazed his thumb on my lower lip before getting in his car. I was left standing on the street in awestruck wonder.

What in the hell just happened?! Why did I kiss him back?! A guy whom I just met not a while ago, stole my goddamn first kiss and I just let him had his way! I even liked it! I frigging lost my mind!

 

 

=====####====

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter three: The threat

 

 

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: SLUT!!!

T0: Sydney Wood

YOU ARE A SLUT AFTER ALL...

 

I frowned at my phone's screen after reading the email. It's not as if my first time to receive such a message or email. I've done some pretty mean things to a lot of people so I am not surprised to receive a lot of hate from my Hater's club. The thing is, I'm frigging pissed and sleepless because of that jerk Cole and receiving this crap is making me more pissed off.

"What's wrong, ma chére? You don't like your salad?" My mom asked me with a worried look when she saw me staring at my phone intently and not touching my breakfast.

"Nothing." I replied with a smile. Her face furrowed and scanned my face.

"You look awful. Didn't you sleep well last night? Your eyes have terrible dark circles." She commented with a disapproving look. My face turned sour. Oh, hell no.. Jacqueline Babineaux will definitely force me to take her awful beauty supplements-crap! "I will tell my secretary later to bring you some of the vitamins and healthy drinks that will bring a glow to your skin and will get rid of your stress." I just nodded, feeling dreadful as the thought of consuming those awful-taste-like-a-puke detoxifying drinks clouded my mind. I placed my phone in my blue Saint Laurent Alligator Betty bag and started digging my salad. I was halfway finished when my phone rang. I ignored it, but it kept on ringing and my mom stared at me, wondering, so I unwillingly answered it without even looking at the caller.

"Hello Sydney.." My mouth fell as I heard a familiar creepy-hoarse voice from my favorite thriller movie, The Scream.

"What the fuck---"

"Sydney! Watch your language!" My mom gaped at me looking mortified at my foul language. She looked around and sighed a relief when the maids are not around. She's scared that the maids will gossip about my foul manners and the news will spread in the public since I'm already considered a public figure.

"I'm sorry mom." I said and excused myself from the table. I went to the living room so my mom can't hear me. "Who the hell are you?" I asked the unknown caller firmly. There was no answer. Just dead silence so I decided to click the end button when I heard a chuckle from a very annoying yet familiar voice. "Cole!" I hissed softly, not wanting my mom to hear me.

"God! You gave me a good laugh, Syd." Cole said through his laughter.

"How the hell did you get my number?" I asked calmly, but I really want to hit him if he's just in front of me.

"That's a secret." He answered huskily. I've got a hunch that he took my number from my phone yesterday when I was unconscious at his place.

"Whatever." I ended the call. It rang again, but I put my phone in silent mode and went back to the breakfast table.

"Who was that?" My mom inquired, looking curious as always.

"Nothing. Just a prank caller." I lied. My phone vibrated and a text message appeared. I opened it and my eyes widen at the message.

M @ ur front porch, babe

Letz go 2 skul 2geder

I brought ur car wd me

Hurry up or I'll knock

on ur door

I stood up hastily and grabbed my bag from the chair and kissed my mom on her cheek.

"I gotta go, mom. Something came up at school. Catch you up later." I said hurriedly and sprung to the door, hearing Jacque's lecture about walking gracefully but I just ignored it. I saw Cole, leaning on the wall with a smirk on his annoyingly handsome face.

"Morning, Syd. Did you sleep well last night?" I know he's teasing me because of what happened last night. I blushed uncontrollably as I remembered the kiss. I saw his naughty grin and it made me furious. I pulled his hand harshly away from the front porch and to the front of my parked car. "Hey! Be gentle with me, babe." He complained, but is laughing annoyingly.

"Give me my car key." I ordered and looked at him sternly. I didn't realize that my car key was missing until now. He might have taken it yesterday. I'm thankful though, since I didn't have the trouble of calling the tow service.

"Uh-uh... Let's go together. I'll drive you and since I didn't bring my own car, you don't have a choice, but to stick your ass with me for a lil while, Miss Popular." He gave me a devilish smile. I've just thought of a good plan.

"OK. But I'll drive. Give me my keys. Please..?" I begged and smiled at him sweetly while touching his arm. He looked a bit taken aback by my sudden action. I almost burst out laughing when I saw him gulp and sighed. Stupid! I want to scream in his face, but I was glad that he seemed to have taken my bait.

"Alright. I can't say no to such a pretty girl in front of me begging." He smiled boyishly and scratched his jaw. He looks so damn cute right now and my cold heart wants to meltdown but I won't. I shook my head and reached for the car key. He turned to the passenger's door but I stopped him.

"Wait!"

"What?" He looked at me, confused. I reached for his neck and acted like I'm going to kiss him. "H-hey. I didn't know you like me that much---Awww! Goddammit!" He hissed, looking pained when I kicked his left foot. I hurriedly got in my car and locked the doors, but I let the passenger's window a bit open, enough for him to hear me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry baby, but I won't let my sexy ass stick with you even for a second and I've been dying to kick your ass, Harrison. You should be thankful it was only your foot. Next time you wouldn't imagine where I'll kick you..." I stared at his face and down to his fly, oblivious of his dark expression. I gave him a sinister laugh, then fired my engine. I left him standing on the driveway. Ha! Got what you deserved, jerk! I smiled while looking at the rear mirror.

 

======####=======

 

"Hi, Syd!" Lisa called me from behind.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Are you up for a wild party tonight?" Lisa beamed at the mention of the word, wild party. She's a party animal of the group.

"Yeah, why the hell not? It can ease up some stress." I smiled at her.

"You? Stressed? You've gotta be kidding me!" She said with an exaggerated look. I just rolled my eyes at her.

"Do I look like a robot to you, Lis? It's just that the Winter Collection Fashion show at HS is coming so I'm kinda bit pressured by my mom. You know Jacque can be so demanding and all." I lied partly, of course. I've never felt stressed about my work but, it's partly true about being pressured by mom though.

"Yeah. I think it's cool to have a mom like her but, she's kinda scary at times too." She giggled, but pushed a short and skinny girl who almost collided with her. I simply ignored it. Lisa is the meanest of us all. I meant that literally. She hurts others physically. As for me, I'm more of a bossy type. If I think someone is against me, I scare them, but it's all talk. I've never hurt anyone... Except....

"Hey baby!" Cole wrapped his arms around my waist, surprising me and making all the hairs of my body stand because of anger. How dare he do this to me in front of many people! I panicked as almost all the students in the hallway are staring at us. Some are even taking pictures! I harshly removed his arms, but he tightened his grip around me almost suffocating me.

"This is for kicking me and this is..." He whispered and kissed my cheek. "..for leaving me behind."

"What the hell! Let me go you, Jerk!" I heard him laugh before he let me go and ran away from me. He winked at me before completely disappearing from my sight. My face is all red because of anger and embarrassment.

"Whoa! What the frigging hell was that, Syd?" Lisa squeaked after recovering from a shock.

"That idiot needs to be taught a lesson. Let's go. We need a meeting." I walked off and Lisa followed me. "What are you still looking at?! Beat it losers!" I hissed at the annoying students who are still staring at me, murmuring and gossiping with each other. They all scrambled away from me.

 

=====#####=====

 

"What's up, Syd?" Lucy spoke up first, looking curious as ever though I'm sure that they already know the reason as some of the annoying students tweeted a picture of me and Cole. Samantha, Lisa, Carol, Audrey, Patty, and Lucy are sitting on our favorite bench at school waiting for me to speak. I exhaled a mouthful of air before speaking.

"I guess you already know why we're having this meeting. I can't tolerate this Harrison guy anymore. He needs to learn his place. So, we need to plan on how to teach him a lesson." I said tersely.

"Syd, I think you're overreacting---" Lucy started, but I cut her off.

"Overreacting?! That guy has been harassing me since yesterday!" I hissed at her and I saw Lucy bit her lip. I can be frightening at times so I can't blame her.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Audrey asked excitedly. I smiled at her. I like Audrey since she's always up for anything I ask without complaining.

"Here's the plan...."

 

======####=====

 

I was walking toward my last period when my iPad buzzed. I lazily checked the email.

 

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: You mean whore!

T0: Sydney Wood

I HATE YOU!

YOU ARE A MEAN EVIL BITCH!

YOU SHOULD DIE!!!!!!!!!

 

"What the hell.." I frowned after reading the email. There's an attachment and I opened it curiously. I gasped in shock as I saw my blown-up picture covered in blood and there's a bold text of a word DIE on my forehead. I angrily looked around, but there's no one but me on the hallway. I flinched and almost screamed when someone touched my arm.

"Hey. What's wrong? You look pale." Cole looks worried and somehow I felt relieved that he's here. The recent email I've received creeps me out a bit.

"It's nothing." I whispered and averted my eyes from his questioning, keen eyes.

"OK, but you know you can talk to me anytime if you have something in your mind. That's if you want to.." He smiled boyishly and scratched his jaw. That habit of his is kinda distracting, but I was kinda taken aback by his offer. I mean, nobody has ever told me or offered me something like that before. I guess my friends are just thinking about fashion, money, fame, boys, and what mean things can they do to others---speaking of which--Carol is fast approaching us with something colorful on her hands and acted like she accidentally tripped and threw the colorful liquid on Cole's face and shirt. Now, he's dripping wet and messy.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry.." Carol looked at Cole with her puppy dog eyes. She's our best actress. I should give her an Oscar award but I don't know why I feel guilty at the moment when It was my plan from the start.

"It's OK, sweetie." Cole smiled at her. I don't know why I feel annoyed at Carol all of a sudden. "Well, guess I have to wash up and change." He said and left.

"Plan number one, Success!" Carol clapped and ran away excitedly before I can even stop her. I kinda changed my mind, but I don't know how to tell them. I will look weak to them if I say that I suddenly feel guilty. I didn't have enough time to debate between my conscience and my pride when a sudden commotion erupted from the girl's rest room. Patty looked pale as Cole trapped her on the wall and giving her a dangerous look while she's holding his shirt on her hand.

"What's going on here?!" Principal Johnson roared as he cut through the crowd of onlookers. I saw Patty dropped Cole's shirt and cried.

"Mr. Johnson, please get him off me. This guy is harassing me..." Patty sniffed.

"What?! You lying bit---"

"Mr. Harrison, please let go of Ms. Adams." Principal Johnson commanded grimly. Cole let her go, but still stares at her gravely. Patty squirmed and looked at me for help, but at the moment I was too shocked to react. Shit! This is a real mess... "You two follow me in my office." I saw Becky staring at me, but when I caught her staring, she instantly lowered her head. I didn't bother about her since I have a bigger problem at the moment.

 

====####====

 

"This was not in our plan!" I yelled at Patty. She's crying like a baby in front of me. Cole got suspended for a week because of what she said. Our plan was just to make a silly prank by stealing his clothes and make him go out of the shower room without clothes to embarrass him. That's all, but Patty failed and was caught by Cole and the stupid girl made a commotion that led to his suspension.

"Hey Syd, give Patty a rest. She just got scared and isn't it good that he got suspended? Isn't that what you wanted since he bothers you a lot?" Lucy said calmly and it struck me. She's right. Why am I so bothered? I hate him, don't I? I sighed indignantly.

"Fine. I'm sorry. Let's not talk about it anymore."

We went to our respective classes forgetting about the incident or the right phrase is trying to forget but I couldn't. I felt guilty for the first time. I saw Cole and I was about to talk to him when Harry wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"My Queen! You really are a mean minx, but I loved what you did to that cocky bastard. Got what he deserved. If you'd told me, I could have helped you, but guess you can handle it on your own." Harry ranted, but I was looking at Cole who's staring at me blankly. Is he mad at me now? What kind of dumbass question was that? Of course he is after hearing what this big-mouthed Harry has said! He just walked passed us and didn't look at me again. I removed Harry's arm too harshly and walked off.

"Hey!" I heard Harry called, but I ignored him.

 

=====####======

 

I'm at Samantha's party right now but I couldn't seem to enjoy. I heard a buzz from my iPad so I took it out and was appalled as I received another email.

 

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: I know what you did bitch!

T0: Sydney Wood

I WANT YOU TO DIE SYDNEY WOOD!!!

 

I looked around immediately, but everyone seem busy drinking, dancing, and enjoying themselves.

Who the hell is sending me these frigging annoying emails?!

 

=====####====

 

 

###############################

 

Do you like this chapter? Please comment. That would mean a lot. Thanks!  :)

Chapter four: The stalker

 

 

I woke up a bit early today, or rather, I didn't sleep at all. Jacque will be hysterical if she sees my dark circles and gigantic eye bags right when I'm about to have a photo shoot. Well, nothing can beat a professional eye concealer from a trusted brand, I hope so. The reason for this dreadful, sleepless night is that my frigging conscience is bugging me for getting Cole suspended and I am more bothered by the thought that I am bothered by it. I'm not supposed to feel any remorse about such petty things. I did a lot of awful stuffs to other students before too, which led them to drop out of school. So why am I having this kind of turmoil? The worst part is, the fact that I'm feeling this strange emotion toward a guy and a cocky guy at that. I shook my head excessively, thinking that all the crazy thoughts will disappear but to no avail. I decided to get up and do some cardio workout. I usually jog around this time, so I might just do the usual routine. I washed my face, then changed my silk sleepwear into black sweat pants and blue hoodie over my white sleeveless fitted blouse. I grabbed my running shoes and went out to jog. It's still a little dark since it's just a quarter to five in the morning. I headed Northwest on East 64th Street to Madison Avenue, then after some time, I turned right onto 5th Avenue. I made another turn to the left onto 65th Street. I felt exhilarated for running about 7 minutes or so. Then I felt something seems strange, like someone's following me. I stopped and looked around, but there's no one around. I stared at the dark alleys, but I can't see anything. It's eerily quiet. I shivered at the thought that maybe there's some psychopath lurking in those scary dark alleys, just waiting to pounce on me. I ran again, this time more faster toward Central park. My heart is beating fast and I'm almost out of breath. I felt relieved when I saw there are some few people around doing their early exercise. I slowly stopped and squeaked when someone grabbed my shoulder.

 

“Hey! It's me, Syd. Chill.” I heard Harry's voice. I stopped struggling from his grasped and calmed myself. I glanced at him, feeling a bit embarrassed by my strange behavior. There are a few people staring at us, looking curious and some are a bit concerned about me. But they continued on their exercise again when Harry gestured that we're good and I nodded.

 

“Harry.” I breathed. “I'm sorry about that. I'm a bit edgy today. Didn't sleep well.” I said, smiling to hide my nervousness from earlier. Maybe I'm just imagining things because of lack of sleep and probably because of those emails I've received lately.

 

“Something bothering you?” He asked with a curious look in his face.

 

“No. Just lack of sleep, I guess. I'm thinking of some crazy things.” I lied half of it. It's true that I lacked of sleep that's why I'm on edge, but I didn't say the reason why I'm sleepless. Anyway, it's kinda complicated with some crazy stuffs about my weird feelings toward Cole and the threats that I've received lately, all mixed together is driving me nuts.

 

“I see. Well, crazy stuffs happen all the time.” He said with a shrugged. Then I realized, what's he doing here?

 

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I voiced out my thoughts and eyed him surreptitiously.

 

“I'm taking my morning run, same as you. Obviously.” I rolled my eyes at hearing him speak with his usual arrogance. Rich kids are born to be arrogant, I believe. If not all, I dare say, almost.

 

“Isn't your place kinda far from here?” Harry lives on Grosvenor street, Douglaston in Queens and it takes about 30 minutes or so by car to here. I wonder why he has to go here just to jog.

 

“Nope. I moved around here just yesterday, a few blocks from your place, I guess.” He gave me a smug smile.

 

“Are you following me?” I asked suspiciously, making him chuckle.

 

“As much as I love being near you, My Queen, I'm not that desperate.” He said cockily.

 

“Then, what a coincidence. Welcome to the neighborhood.” I jested sardonically and started running again. He joined me while laughing. Clearly, I'm out of my mind. I even suspected Harry as the one following me like a stalker a while ago. Harry was right. He's not that desperate to go to that extent of following me. Upper East side of Manhattan is a good place for rich people like us and near our school. What could possibly be the reason aside from that? Though I'm still a bit suspicious about him.

 

“Actually, my dad lives around this area. I'll be staying at his place for awhile. Got into a fight with my mom.” He confided coolly.

 

“Oh.” That made me erased his name on my stalker slash psycho list. I knew about his parents, same as mine, had divorced, but as for him, just last year. So, I kinda sympathized with him. “Let's run to that and blow off some steam.” He laughed in response and outran me. I just smiled. Maybe Harry is not that bad. Well, as a friend. Only as a friend. I hope he'll not press on. After half an hour of running around Central Park, we decided to go back. I'm glad Harry was with me. The strange feeling of someone following me, disappeared as well. Maybe, whoever was following me got scared when that person saw Harry. He's a big and muscular guy after all. That is, if I was really being followed.

 

“See you later.” He said and ran towards the Northwest on East 80th street. I scanned the area just around my place to make sure no one is following me before I went in. I checked my sports watch. It's just six. Jacque must still be asleep. She usually wakes up at six-thirty. I climbed the stairs to my room on the third floor and had a quick shower. My first class starts at seven-thirty. It's still early. I still have plenty of time to prepare and Manhattan High is just a 9-10 minutes drive by car, depending on the traffic, of course. I got out of the shower after twenty minutes and went to look for something to wear in my dressing room. My mom sent some new clothes from High Society for me to use and endorse. As one of their models, my mom obliges me to wear HS collection. Well, I'm not opposed to it as the clothes my mom and her junior designers make are pretty good and classy. It's also the reason why my mom chose, Manhattan High. It's a private school, but it doesn't have a school uniform except for PE class, so I can promote HS clothes, which is very effective by the way. A lot of girls in school are using what I'm wearing. Manhattan High caters to rich students even celebrities and that's a good place for business. I decided to wear the white bustier crop top. I placed a sleeveless single breasted denim vest with a turn-down collar over it and a coral skater skirt which the hem didn't touch my knee. Then I went to my shoe cabinet. I picked my recently bought Christian Louboutin flats with Swarovski crystals. I wore a matching Louis Vuitton bangles and stud earrings. I brushed my hair up in a messy bun and put on a light makeup, especially on my eyes for the finishing touch. Now, I glanced at my reflection through the life-size mirror in my dressing room, satisfied. My concept for today is a bit of street side-look with a touch of class. It's my summer-autumn combo fashion statement. Fashion is how you carry yourself confidently in whatever you wear in the first place. I believe that no matter what I wear, I can pull it off. It's what you call, CONFIDENCE. It's an important word in the fashion world. As my motto states; “It's not what you wear, but how you wear it.”A knock from my door, then Rita popped in, looking dazzled as she saw me. I rolled my eyes.

This girl never learns. I glowered at her.

 

“Did I tell you to come in?” I asked calmly, but I made sure my eyes told her that I'm annoyed at her. Her eyes widened at the realization.

 

“Oh! I'm s-so s-sorry, Miss... I-I t-hought.” She stammered, but I just ignored her. I grabbed my matching Louis Vuitton cream sling bag and went out.

 

====#####====

 

 

After school, which was quite tedious, I went straight to High Society for my rescheduled photo shoot. I was glad I didn't receive any weird emails, but I'm still guilty about Cole. The photo shoot lasted an hour or so, but I was glad for the distraction. I went to the dressing room afterward and was horrified to see a hideous vandalism on the mirror using a red lipstick. It said;

 

DIE BITCH!

 

I WANT YOUR ANNOYING PRETTY

 

FACE MARRED WITH MY KNIFE!

 

I furiously erased the red markings with my hands and was startled to hear my mom's voice behind me.

 

“What are you doing, dear?” Jacque stared at me, wondering what I'm doing. I'm relieved I was able to erase the vandalism when my mom came in. I don't want her to fuss about this. Jacque Babineaux well just over-exaggerate about it and I don't want any of that crap. It's just so needlessly bothersome.

 

“M-mom! Um, nothing. I'm cleaning the mirror.” I uttered a bit weird. Jacque's flawless brow from having a Botox recently, furrowed a bit.

 

“Are you alright, darling?”

 

“Yeah. I'm fine. Are we going out for dinner now?”

 

“I'm so sorry, dear. I think we have to cancel our dinner date today. I have to meet a client.” She said and I wonder if it's a client or a new man she's dating.

 

“It's OK, mom. I'll just go home or call one of my friends.” When Jacque went out, I hurriedly changed and went out. I looked around, checking for someone who looks weird or is looking at me strangely, but everyone seems busy doing their job. Then I saw the janitor. I hurriedly went to him.

 

“Hey. Excuse me.”

 

“Yes, ma'am?” He eyed me curiously. He's a middle-age man with a kind-looking face.

 

“I was just wondering if you saw someone entering that dressing room over there?” I said while pointing my finger in the direction of my dressing room.

 

“Yes. There were a few. The hair and makeup stylist went in and some staffs who brought some clothes in there and the last one I saw is, Ms. Babineaux.”

 

“Anyone suspicious?” I asked, sounding like Nancy Drew.

 

“Nah. I'm too old to notice, kid.” He said, shaking his head. I sighed and went out of the building. Whoever this lunatic is, I won't give her or him the satisfaction to see me vexed by this stupid prank. Come to think of it, I haven't thought about the gender of this crazy person who's trying to scare me. I'm assuming it's a girl. Most girls hate me and the boys would rather pester me to date them than play this scaring-me-shit trick.

 

I started my car after deciding to just go home. Then I was surprised that I ended up stopping my car in front of Cole's condo at Tribeca. I'm really out of my mind. I'm not thinking clearly. I even got out of my car and stood in front of the condominium building.

 

Ugh! This is ridiculously insane! My mind screamed and I turned around to go back to my car when I bumped into something hard.

 

“What are you doing here?” I was speechless. Cole caught me in his arms when I almost lost my balance and he is staring at me coldly. Shit! This is really awkward...

 

“I-I was looking for...” My brain is working on for some lame excuse then an idea came. “..Terroir to meet Lucy and seemed like I got lost.” I said finally. Cole looked at me skeptically and let go of me.

 

“Really... And you ended up in front of my condo?” If he's not looking serious and mad at me right now, I might say that he's smirking at me.

 

“Yeah. Are you trying to imply that I did this on purpose? Ha! Impossible!” I denied in an arrogant manner to cover up my embarrassment.

 

“Whatever you say. You're on Jay street and Terroir is at 24 Harrison street. It's a three minute drive from here. Just head East towards Staple street, turn left onto Hudson street---He was explaining so seriously and looking so handsome that my mind stop to work. I was staring at him like a lovesick puppy. He looks so good right now. He's wearing a blue cashmere v-neck sweater over a white shirt with a black leather jacket, faded jeans and black sneakers. His dark hair is tousled as usual. Why does he look so damn good in my eyes?Did he put a hex on me? My thoughts were disrupted when Cole's hand wave in front of my face.

 

“What?” I snapped, angry at myself.

 

“Did you hear what I've said?” He asked impassively. I can't tell if he's amused or annoyed or whatever since he's giving me a cold treatment and I'm not kinda use to this kind of Cole.

 

So you missed the way he bothers you? My evil subconscious sneered at me. No! I wanna deny it, but my subconscious is laughing at me.

 

“Yeah.” I said, looking pissed.

“OK.” He said and went in his condo without looking back. I sighed and decided to just really go to Terroir. I need a drink anyway. I was glad that the place isn't packed. I sat on the stool at the bar and ordered a cosmopolitan but the bartender eyed me suspiciously. I smiled at him charmingly and glad that he'd forgotten to ask for my ID. It's a good thing, I changed my lipstick to a shade of red. It made me look a bit older than my age. I was drinking my fifth glass when I felt like someone is looking at me. The same weird thing I felt early this morning like someone is watching my every move. I turned my head instantly and saw someone afar, staring at me. I'm not sure if it's a woman or a man since that person is wearing a dark hoodie and the place is a bit dark. In addition, I also feel a bit tipsy and kinda dizzy because of the alcohol. I'm not even sure if that person is really looking at me but my gut feeling screamed danger. I hurriedly paid my bill and when I looked back to that direction, that person was gone. I felt a deep chill down my spine. I'm pretty sure someone has been stalking me, since this morning on my way to Central park, at HS building, and now here. I jumped off the stool and staggered.

 

“Are you OK, Miss?” The bartender asked when he saw my unsteady stance.

 

“Y-yeah.” I smiled at him reassuringly in spite of my jumpy nerves. I walked toward the door and went out only to scream when someone grabbed my arm. I kicked and screamed, but the stranger covered my mouth.

 

“God, Sydney! Will you calm down?” A voice that so familiar to me now hissed in frustration. I stopped struggling and gazed up at Cole. I've never thought or even crossed my mind, since we've met that I'll be glad to see his handsome face today.

 

“Oh my God!” I cried and threw my arms around him. I felt that he was surprised by my sudden action, but didn't push me away.

 

“Hey. What's wrong, baby? Where's your friend?” He whispered softly while stroking my hair. I didn't answer. I just sniffed and hugged him tightly. I just felt relieved that he's here. “Hush now, it's alright...”

 

 

====####====

 

 

I woke up with a strange yet warm feeling. My pillow smelled so good and feels so warm. Oddly, it radiates a heat that warms my body. I hugged it tightly. Strangely, my pillow feels so hard yet so comfortable. I also feel like something heavy is wrapped around my waist. I ran my fingers over my pillow and I was shocked to feel the hard surface twitched and moaned. I instantly opened my eyes and gasped. Cole is sleeping like a baby, facing me while his left arm is wrapped around me and shirtless. Oh my God! I spent the night at his place and on his frigging bed! Then my memory from last night came flashing back---I was scared and drunk, then Cole wanted to drive me home but I insisted on sleeping with him. I even threw up on his shirt and then I blushed when I remembered the kiss. I grabbed him last night and kissed him when he laid me down on his bed. I kissed him! Shit! Ugh! I'm a frigging slut! Thanked God, I fell asleep, if I hadn't... I squeezed my eyes shut, I can't imagine what would happen if I didn't doze off. I stared at his sleeping face. He looks so vulnerable and naive when he sleeps with his hair all tousled and some strands covered part of his left eye. I was even tempted to brush the stray hair away from his eyes with my fingers. I was also amazed how a guy can have these thick and long lashes. He just looks so adorable right now. I dropped my eyes on his chest and my hands twitched in a temptation to run my fingers on his muscular chest, his six pack abs, and toned biceps. My crazy and embarrassing thoughts were disrupted when Cole stirred. What in the hell am I thinking?! I'm fantasizing about a guy in his sleep and was even tempted to feel his muscles with my fingers, taking advantage of him! I heaved a sigh and slowly removed his arm on my waist. I heard him groan softly. I shot him a glance and was thankful that he's still asleep. I can't face him now or for a long time after this embarrassing predicament. I slowly rolled off the bed, only to be pulled back by a set of strong arms. I screamed out of surprise and was rewarded by Cole's husky laughter and slightly squeezed me in his arms.

 

“Morning...” He whispered, still eyes closed and buried his face on my neck. I completely froze. What the hell is this situation? How am I gonna act in this kind of situation? Then my eyes, all of a sudden, came across the oversize gray cotton shirt that I'm wearing. I furiously slapped his face and stood up on the bed, looking down on his startled face. He definitely looks cute right now, but it didn't ease my anger.

 

“What was that for?” He asked, holding his face while glaring at me.

 

“You undressed me again! You pervert!” I yelled down at him and put my hands on both of my hips and stomped my feet childishly. He stared at me for a moment, then he burst into laughter. I kicked his leg, but he caught it, pulling me. I lost my balance and fell on the bed. Cole was like Flash, he swiftly moved on top of me, pinning me on the bed. “Get the hell off me you, frigging pervert!” I hissed, but he just grinned at me.

 

“If you can recall, you threw up on me and on your clothes as well. I'm sure you wouldn't want to sleep in those stinky clothes, would you? I'm not that heartless you know. Don't worry, I didn't peek.” He said acting serious but, I can tell he's laughing at me. I just don't know what to say. I hate to admit it, but he's right and it's my fault. I forced him to take me to his condo. Ugh! After this, I'll never ever gonna drink alcohol again!

 

“Whatever. Just get off me.” I mumbled, not meeting his piercing, gray eyes.

 

“Not gonna happen.” He smirked. I glared at him indignantly. He's enjoying this immensely. This jerk is laughing at my discomfort! I sighed heavily. I don't have the strength to argue with him anymore. I feel so tired and a bit hungover. “Hey. Are you OK?” He gave me a worried look, but I just ignored him. “If you're not gonna answer me, I'll kiss you.” He warned.

 

“I'm fine!” I answered back as fast as the lightning. He chuckled, but turned serious afterward.

 

“So, what happened last night? You looked so scared.” He eyed me eagerly.

 

“It was nothing. I was just surprised. Now, can you get off me?” I asked calmly, opposite with my heart, which is hammering loudly.

 

“It wasn't nothing, Syd. You were crying—-”

 

“Let's drop it, OK?” I asked, showing my irritation. I closed my eyes when I felt a sudden dizziness. I really hate having a hangover. I didn't hear him answer so I opened my eyes. Cole is staring down at me intensely.

 

“Shall we continue where we left off last night?” He whispered huskily. My eyes widen and muttered a protest only to be cut-off when Cole claimed my already parted mouth. This is totally insane. I'm responding to his kiss like it's the most normal thing to do. I can't even stop my hands from roaming around his body. I feel like I'm a sexually repressed person and now I just burst out like some kind of a teenage sex maniac who can't seem to suppress the raging hormones that is screaming to let out. I heard Cole groan delectably when I raked my knuckles through his messy yet sexy hair. I'm losing all my senses. Then a loud buzz from a phone ringing brought me back to my senses, but Cole didn't mind and continued on kissing me like he doesn't have any plans of letting me breathe. I pushed him weakly. He rumbled something indistinct and kissed my neck.

 

“Get the hell off me!” I hissed and pushed him as much as my strength can offer. He finally let me go and rolled off the bed with a hint of irritation and marched to the bathroom without giving me a glance back. I was a bit confused about his action, but I don't have the time to decipher his attitude. I grabbed my things and hurriedly went out of his room and out of his condo just wearing his shirt and my Christian Louboutin flats. I didn't even give a damn about some few people I came across, staring at me curiously. I fired up my car as soon as I got in and sped up. I just need a breath of fresh air to clear my mind, but I guess I couldn't get that in a busy city such as New York.

 

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Hi guys! Sorry it took a while before I was able to update.

 

How's this chapter?

 

Please comment and don't forget to put it in ur fave! :)

 

Thanks! XOXO

 

Chapter five: Accident on the ramp

 

 

 

“Sydney, you are out of focus, amore. You are walking almost on the edge of the catwalk.” Gianni Ammirati, the Italian runway choreographer of High Society called my attention--which is wandering off somewhere--to those piercing gray eyes, and to those promising lips... I shook my head harshly, shaking off the thoughts that are driving me into insanity. After that incident, there were two things I was glad about. First, when I came home on that morning, I'd learned that my mom didn't come home from her so-called client meeting slash date, I'm sure of it, so I didn't bother giving her any explanation about my whereabouts that night. Second, Cole is still on suspension. So, I won't be seeing him until next Tuesday. But why am I thinking about him like a lovesick girl? Because you're beginning to like him, that is. My subconscious interjected wickedly. I dismissed the idea and turned my attention to Gianni who's eyeing me and marveling about what's on my mind to be this distracted. He must be surprised since I usually work professionally even though I'm the daughter of the owner of this fashion clothing line. I always do my job flawlessly.

 

“I'm sorry. Let's do it again.” I said giving him my confident smile to reassure him that I'm good to go. He smiled back and waved at the other models to start from the top. I turned around to go back from the backstage when I caught Chalina Pérez staring at me with contempt, but I'm not sure since she smiled instantly when I stared back at her. I'll have to deal with her later. I don't like people giving me strange glances, especially in my turf. Who the hell does she think she is? She's just a poor and ambitious girl, climbing her way up to the modeling world, but she'll never catch up with me. I don't need to climb any ladder just to be rich. I'm already an Heiress before I was even born. Chalina is pretty, I do admit. She is a Colombian-American girl with beautiful brown skin, chocolate-brown eyes and a perfect body. Also with a height to be envied about, which I don't. She's a lot taller than me, almost six feet tall. I guess, I'm more than satisfied with myself and arrogant to be envious about anyone, especially to a person who is below my social rank. I actually find her disconcerting. I don't know why, maybe the way she stares at me every time I catch her looking at me. But most girls stare at me so I should get used to it. I glided toward her on the catwalk with elegance, overtaking her, but stopped momentarily, not giving her a glance and spoke quietly but menacingly.

 

“I don't like it when a lowly person stares at me.” I heard her gasp, but I just walked off. I have no time for a cat fight. Maybe after the show, I'll show her how she should know her place and not mess with me. She'll be a great distraction for my troubled mind. My upper lip twitched into a smile.

 

====####====

 

 

We just finished the dress rehearsals on the runway when Chalina approached me. The nerve! I rolled my eyes, but was glad since I was planning to pick on her right after the rehearsals and she made it easier for me.

 

“Sydney, can I talk to you?” She asked a bit hesitant when she saw my cold stare. I raised my eyebrow at her and gazed at her hand, which is on my shoulder.

 

“First of all, I don't want your filthy hand touching me---I stated harshly yet gracefully and brushed away her hand from my shoulder and if she has a fair complexion, I might think that she's blushing because of humiliation---Secondly, don't call me casually by my first name when we're not even friends. And lastly, don't talk to me, like ever. Go talk to someone your own level.” I said and pushed her. She staggered back, teary-eyed, and turned away toward the dressing room when the other models, male and female who heard our little conversation, giggled. I noticed, she doesn't have any friends here, the other models which have the same agency as her, seem to dislike her guts as well. Well, that's not my problem, does it? I walked to my own dressing room nonchalantly and got dressed. Tomorrow is the Fashion show for High Society's Winter Collection, but I'm still not in the mood. I grabbed my stuffs and went out when my phone beeped. I lazily took my phone out of my bag and saw a message from Cole. I saved his number last time he called me so I won't answer it if he calls again. I ignored it and put it back in my bag, when it rang. What an insidious and persistent pest... I sighed and decided to just turn off my phone when I noticed that it was from an unknown caller. I don't want to answer it, but my curiosity overcame my indifference.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hello, Sydney...” A gruff, baleful voice, whispered my name spitefully. The voice sounded unreal, like the person is using a voice changer app or something. I mentally rolled my eyes. I bet it's Cole trying to copy the psycho killer in the movie, The Scream. He even used another number just to scare me. What an imbecile and bothersome guy who lacks attention.

 

“You know what, Cole, if you wanna scare me, try something new and not copy something from the movie. You're such a lowly copycat!”

 

“Cole? Is that the guy you're fucking?” The voice sounded disgusted.

 

“Stop this nonsense, Cole!” I'm getting irritated already. “This is childish!”

 

“Don't call me with the name of the guy you're fucking, Sydney. You disgust me! A bitch like you should die!” The voice yelled menacingly and then I heard the beep sound as the call ended. I was left speechless and aghast. Was it Cole? I don't think it's him. I was walking like a zombie into the parking area in the basement of High Society when two big hands grabbed my shoulders. I screamed in panic and kicked the stranger. I ran away as soon as his hold loosen but the stranger was quick. He grabbed me by the waist, ceasing me to escape.

 

“Ugh! Heeeeeelp!” I screamed, but my mouth was covered with a rough hand, sealing my voice.

 

“Hey. Quit it, Syd! You're acting crazy!” I heard Cole's angry voice. I stopped screaming and turned to face him.

 

“Cole?”

 

“Yeah. Who do you think?” He mocked in irritation, but his face softened when he saw my pale face.

 

“Hey, are you OK? You look pale. What happened?” He raised his hand to touch my face, but I moved away, still freaked out.

 

“W-what are you doing here?” I stuttered.

 

“Baby, what's wrong? Tell me...” He didn't wait for my answer and hugged me. I didn't push him away not because I don't have the strength, but because I oddly felt secure in his arms.

 

“Why are you here?” I asked again. This is a private building and Cole doesn't look like he has an appointment here. Is he following me? Maybe it's him who did that prank call to scare me since he hate me for getting him suspended. I pushed him with that thought, but Cole didn't let me go.

 

“Your mom's assistant contacted me earlier and offered me a job.” He explained nonchalantly, still holding me in his arms. “I sent you a message earlier. Didn't you receive it?”

 

“What job?” I asked, ignoring his question. I got curious about the job he's talking about and felt my nerves simmering down.

 

“A modeling job.” He uttered, amused with the idea.

 

“What?! Why would my mom offer you a job here? Are you considering it, that's why you're here?” I muttered in disbelief. He chuckled at my expression. This is simply Jacque's way of manipulating things regarding my life, particularly my love life. I'm just seventeen. Oh, for Christ's sake!

 

“Don't you think I'm suited to be a model?” He raised his arms in a comical manner to show his toned and muscular biceps. I wanted to giggle but I stopped myself. “Anyway, I want to accept the offer, that's why I'm here.” He smiled widely when he saw my mouth dropped.

 

“What?! Why? You don't like this job and you're not penniless, right?” I eyed him in total disbelief.

 

“How would you know that I don't like this job?” He smirked.

 

“You don't!” I insisted. I don't want him here. He's gonna destroy my inner peace and this place is where I run to whenever I'm stressed out or troubled. Now, he's telling me that he's gonna work here as a model when he's the big reason why I'm troubled aside from those freaky emails and that prank call. I shot him a wary glance.

 

“Yeah. I don't but since you're here, I like it now.” He winked at me but I ignored it. I have a more stressing matter than his flirtatious repartee.

 

“How many phones do you have?” I asked out of the blue.

 

“One. Why?”

 

“Do you have another SIM card?”

 

“No, why would I have another SIM?” He looked at me like I'm being a crackpot and talking crappy stuffs.

 

“Have you used a prepaid---”

 

“What's with these nonsense questions? Is something bothering you? You've been acting strange since last Wednesday evening.” He stared at me intently, assessing my expression.

 

“Nothing.” I denied and started to walk toward my car. He followed me and pulled my arm so I bounced back to him.

 

“What is it?” He insisted and hold my chin to look at him. I scowled, but didn't say anything. “C'mon, Syd. You can tell me.” His gray eyes stared down at me with a worried look. I almost spilled, looking at those beautiful gray specs. Good thing I stopped myself before I go beyond enemy lines.

 

“I said nothing.” I hissed feeling irritated more at myself than him.

 

“I know you're hiding something from me, Syd...” Now that's it! This guy is just acting like he's my damn boyfriend when he's not and will never be!

 

“Don't get too cocky. Why would I hide something from you? Who are you to me? You're nothing to me so—-” My voice trailed off when I saw the hurt in his face then it was replaced with anger.

 

“Yeah. I get it.” He said and walked off to wherever the hell he is going. I went to my car feeling a tinge of guilt and remorse which I don't like. I'm Sydney Wood. The Ice Queen, who never feels remorse, guilt, or whatever emotions except from hatred toward men and dislike to people with a crappy fashion statement. So, why now? Why do I feel these kind of emotions? It bothers me and that's making my cold composure crumbles. In just a short time I knew about Cole, he riled some emotions within me and started to melt down my icy wall. This attraction I feel toward him is so strong and foreign that I am drawn to him even if I don't want to. I must stop this before it gets any more complicated...

 

====####====

 

 

Everyone is busy, bustling about the wide area of the building where the High Society Winter Collection Runway show will start anytime soon. It's already past seven in the evening and the event will begin at eight. I tweeted an invitation yesterday for everyone at Manhattan High and other people I know in the circle and got more than a thousand retweets and favorites. I heard the fashion show coordinator called out that we should be done and be ready as the crowd of guests have almost arrived, mostly celebrities, paparazzi of some famous magazines, the people in the fashion industry, and all sorts of people from the elite society who are interested in fashion or even not, just to socialize in such event. Jacque Babineaux is considered a Fashion Goddess of the fashion industry as her line of clothing are always on trend and have a classy feel which most Hollywood celebrities choose to wear and even endorse. Jacque has also been considering to expand her line to shoes, bags, and accessories which I had suggested. I like designing shoes, bags and especially accessories. In fact, I've made some just for fun. After high school, I'll be studying in Paris mainly in fashion designing and crafting metals and the sort. I love modeling but my dream is to become just like my mom. I have a passion for designing and creating beautiful things and I'm pretty sure I've had that gene from my multi-talented mother. Gianni went to check on me, I'll be wearing the last piece and the special creation of Jacque Babineaux's Winter couture at the end of the show, but before that, I'll be displaying a few collections of fur coats and glittered jackets. This year's theme is Winter fairyland's fur and glitter. There will be ballerinas and classical music as we walk on the catwalk. Gianni's very creative when it comes to choreographing the runway show and for five years of working in High Society, it has always been successful and is always all over the fashion headlines of some high-end newspapers and magazines.

 

“You look lovely, Sydney, amore.” Gianni waved his fingers delightedly after seeing me. I'm in the dressing room and one of the HS hair and makeup artist is almost done with me.

 

“Grazie, Gianni. Everything's great. As always, you've done a great job. I'm sure Jacque's very pleased.” I smiled at him.

 

“But of course, amore. This is what Ms. Babineaux is paying me for. Don't forget to charm the audiences when you're on the catwalk. Ciao!” He went out and so is the stylist after she's done. A few minutes later, someone knock on the door and I wonder who could it be. I stood up and opened the door, but I didn't see anyone. I was about to go back in when my gaze went down on the floor. There's a black box with a red ribbon. I bent down to pick it up and curiously opened it, but my face went ashen as I saw my picture with blood and worms. I shakily ran to the trash bin and threw it, then I ran out of the room and scanned the area for a potential suspect but everyone are moving about busily. This is really getting serious. I have to report this to the police, but I'm hesitating. It'll be a big fuss and I don't want to worry Jacque. I have to find a way to stop this psycho who's trying to scare me. So far, the psycho hasn't done anything to hurt me. It's all to scare me. I'm guessing it's one of the girls I've picked on but I can't pinpoint who as they were too many. I sighed and looked around. Then I saw a strange person with a dark hoodie walking fast toward the back exit. I ran toward the stranger, but my mom caught me. However, before my attention went to my mom, I saw the stranger bumped into one of the HS staffs and his hoodie fall off his head. I saw the side of his face. Cole? What's he doing here?

 

“Sydney, dear, where are you going? The show is about to start.” Jacque eyed me curiously.

 

“Nowhere. Just thought I saw someone familiar.”

 

“Just find whoever that is later, sweetheart. Remember, glide---”

 

“Glide and not walk.” I finished her sentence. “Got it, Ms. Babineaux.” I smiled at her and went on the back stage, forgetting about the incident earlier. The music started to play and the models are waiting for the cue.

 

 

=====####=====

 

 

I walked—well, glided as Jacque insisted---on the catwalk, wearing a glittered white and silvery jacket with a cream fur hood which is covering my head and a leopard accentuated, silver sequin embossed spangle glitter leggings. As I walk, there's an artificial snowflake falling from above, making the catwalk look like a winter fairyland with the music and the dancing ballerina. The guests are seated on a white and silver fur round cushion chairs with matching furred umbrellas. I scanned the area, looking for someone familiar and saw the girls waving and taking pictures at the front seat. I even saw Becky taking pictures at the far side of the ramp. I saw many familiar faces mostly from Manhattan High and looked curiously for someone with familiar gray eyes at the crowd but to no avail. I must have imagined seeing him as the guy in hoodies. He was pretty pissed with me the last time we talked so I'm pretty sure, he'll not be here. I also saw William with his buddies, staring at me like I'm some kind of a prey. I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped myself and turned around toward the backstage. I bumped into Chalina but didn't bother giving her a glance. I was in a hurry to change into a gold and silver accentuated winter coat, silver sequin skater skirt, and fur boots for my next walk.

 

Everything is running smoothly so far. Everyone is looking gorgeous with High Society's collection and now, I'm ready to show the masterpiece of Jacque Babineaux, The Winter Couture. It's a silver and gold sequin adorned tulle gown with exquisite silk skirt and a sweeping hem that swings as I move and a silvery velvet cloak with a fur hood, hangs on my shoulder and the fur hood covers my head, giving me a mystical aura. When the coordinator announced the last piece, I went out and glided gracefully on the catwalk. Everyone seems captivated by me and the dress. It looks magical like in the fairytale with the matching snowflake shower. As I walked, I got surprised as my eyes came across Cole. He is staring at me, but I can't see his reaction as he's quite far from the ramp and the lighting is a bit dark. My attention switched to the coordinator when he spoke.

 

“Ladies and gentleman, around of applause please to the gorgeous ladies and gentlemen here and to the very talented woman behind these glitz and glam couture, Ms. Jacque Babineaux.” Everyone clapped as Jacque went to the ramp with the other models behind. We are in the midst of crowd, taking more photographs when I heard a rattling sound above me. I looked up, stunned, to see the snow-maker machine is making a weird beeping sound. Then the accident happened. It was like a movie in a slow-mo, someone pushed me from the ramp before I heard something blew up and a loud thud as the metals scattered on the ramp. I winced as I felt my wrist twisted painfully as I landed near the cushions. I heard the crowd screamed in panic, but my consciousness is slowly fading away. I felt a sticky substance flowing from my head to my cheeks. Mom?! How is she? She's just a meter away from me when that evil machine blew up! My mind screamed and worried for my mom as I fight hard to stay awake.

 

“Oh God! Baby, are you OK?” I heard a worried voice before I completely lose my consciousness.

 

====#####=====

 

 

Ms. Jacque Babineaux' High Society Winter Collection: “Winter fairyland's fur and glitter,” Runway show, Glitz and Glam turned catastrophic.

 

It's the news headline not only on the fashion section, but from other news sections as well. I frowned when I saw a caption of me, lying on the floor with a streak of blood on the side of my face while Cole cradled my head on his lap instead of looking gorgeous and poised in the winter couture my mom designed. I cringed as I read some lines in the news article. It said;

 

As this disastrous incident occurred, we also fortunately discovered that the only daughter of the fashion Goddess; Jacque Babineaux and the eldest daughter of a shipping magnate, Carlson Wood, has started dating this handsome boy; Collin Harrison of the Harrison winery and shipping Corp. It's not yet confirmed by both parties, but by looking at this intimate caption and an anonymous source who witnessed the incident, she heard this Harrison guy called, Ms. Wood, “Baby.” What does that imply? You may judge it yourself people. Let's just crossed our fingers as this infamous girl and one of the favorites cover model and runway model, Sydney Wood is known to be a man hater according to the people surrounding her is finally dating!

 

The only good thing about this incident was that in spite of that disaster, the event ended well and the publicity it has gotten so far. My mom doesn't even have to pay for the publicity as the news circulated on its own and a lot of people paid more attention to that said event. Also, my mom didn't get hurt, which I'm very thankful about. The only unlucky person who has gotten a fractured wrist and a minor concussion was just me. If my mom didn't notice the unstable machine in time and didn't push me, I would surely acquire more serious injury. I glanced around the hospital suite where I'm currently confined. I had received lots of get well soon flowers and cards from friends and people I don't even know. I also received a bouquet of flowers from my dad when he visited me. Thanked God, I was asleep when he came. I don't want to talk to him as it feels awkward. I mean I haven't talked to him for a long time and maybe if I didn't get into this accident, he might never come to see me. I crumpled the newspaper and threw it on the trash bin near the door when it opened. Cole went in looking fresh and handsome as usual with a bouquet of white roses. He stared down at the crumpled paper in the floor and picked it up. His brow creased briefly as he read the headline, then a faint smile appeared on his sexy lips.

 

“This is some big news...” He smiled and handed me the bouquet which I ignored, of course, so he placed it on my hospital bed near my pillow. “How are you feeling, ba--”

 

“Don't call me baby! Look what's that stupid tabloid said about us because of your actions!”I hissed and winced as my bandaged head throbbed from my sudden outburst.

 

“Hey, don't strain yourself too much. You're not well yet.” He lectured and pushed me back to lie down on the bed again. I scowled at him.

 

“Will you stop acting like a worried boyfriend and that you really care 'cause I know you don't. After what I did and gotten you suspended, you must hate me---”

 

“I don't hate you. Well, I got annoyed, yeah. But that's not hate, right?” He looked at me boyishly while scratching his jaw.

 

“What did the police say about the incident?” I asked to change the awkward topic.

 

“They said it was a faulty wiring which led to that explosion.” I sighed. I don't know why, but I don't believe it's a faulty wiring. My Nancy Drew instinct is telling me that someone sabotaged it. There's someone really trying to hurt me or worst kill me. I felt a sudden chill by that thought. “The fire inspector and arson investigator are also conducting an investigation about the explosion incident to see if there was a foul play.” He continued.

 

“Cole...” I croaked looking at him with fear written all over my face.

 

“What is it?” He sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for me to speak patiently but I can see that he's worried.

 

“I think someone wants to kill me.”

 

 

======#####=====

 

 

 Hi lovely readers!

 

How's this chapter? If you like it, please comment/put it to your favorites. Thanks a lot! :)

 

I'll update again soon! 

 

xoxo

 

Kenzhie Addie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter six: An awkward situation

 

 

 

“What are you doing here?” I asked incredulously and threw another scratch of paper in the trash bin, but the poor thing didn't make it and landed on the floor along with the other crumpled papers. It's a Monday, but I'm stuck at home and extremely dead-crazy-bored. I was discharged from the hospital early this morning and all I did was sleep since my mom told me not go to school today and just have one more day of rest. Now I was trying to sketch some new designs of shoes to entertain myself, but my right hand seemed to coordinate with my injured left wrist. I tried sketching, but all I did was scribbled something indescribable. Cole walked toward the wad of mess on the floor and bent down to pick them up and threw them in the trash bin. In spite of it, I'm thankful that I didn't get my right hand injured or I'll most definitely freak out since I have an art class as my elective subject and art is my passion.

 

“What are you doing?” He asked me, emphasizing each word while ignoring my question.

 

“Are you blind?” I asked sarcastically.

 

“You're not supposed to—”

 

“What, you're my mother now? Who let you in, anyway?” I'm pretty irritated since I woke up this morning and the cast on my left wrist is getting really itchy. I'm just glad the bothersome bandage on my head had been removed already and was replaced with a tiny plaster.

 

“So you can pick on the poor girl?” He asked amused.

 

“So I can fire her!” I hissed. I'm guessing it's Rita. She's the only one who is dumb enough not to know my so-called rules until now.

 

“I harassed her to let me in. It's not her fault.”

 

“Harassed or flirted with?” I sat straight on my bed and dropped my sketch pad with a thud on the side table. I could imagine him flirting his ass on Rita and the stupid girl batting her lashes at him naively in return. The thought is making me more irritated like a pregnant woman with a hormonal imbalance. Cole chuckled charmingly and sat down on the blue velvet tufted cushion ottoman just beside my bed.

 

“Baby, do you know how damn cute you look right now?” His words got me flustered and made my face flushed. I owe it to my wavy dark curls which is covering my deep red face or Cole will laugh at me if he sees it.

 

“So, why are you here?” I asked, to change the topic.

 

“Well, about what you said the other day—He raised one of his hands, a gesture to let him speak first---You said not tell your mom and not even the police. I understand you don't want to raise a panic from your mom and we're not sure that someone really wants to kill you, but those threatening emails could mean something so I decided to be your bodyguard.” He declared with a serious look.

 

“What?! No! That's insane!” I burst out my protest.

 

“No. You're insane. You might be in danger and you're not even reporting that to the police. Why'd you tell me in the first place? Cole shot me an annoyed glance.

 

“W-well... I.. I'm--” I was caught off guard. I was surprised with his question. I don't even know why I told him. I just felt scared at that time and I don't have anyone to confide and he was there. C'mon Sydney... You want him to protect you, just admit it you, silly girl. My subconscious taunted me and I frowned. That's just not true. I will never believe that.

 

“If you don't want me around to protect you, then I'll tell the police and your mom---”

 

 

“Sydney, ma chére---Oh! Cole, darling, I didn't know you're here and tell me what?” Jacque eyed us warily.

 

“Ms. Babineaux, Syd---”

 

“Tell you that he wants to hang around here...” ...like an insect. I wanted to add but stopped myself. Jacque's ears perked up after hearing that.

 

“Really? That sounds great, Cole. Sydney, is very bored---oh! Speaking... Your friends are downstairs. This is great, ma chére. I'll tell Constance---our new family chef and a patisserie. I could say the best patisserie in town---to prepare something delicious. Jacque ranted and went out before I can even say anything. I raised my hand with a cast---forgetting that it's injured because of frustration—to my forehead and winced as the pain was registered by my sensory neuron.

 

“Hey. I said be careful.” Cole warned me again, but I shot him my deadly stare. “Waah..Scary-ish..” He chuckled and went to ruffle my hair. This matter is so far out of my hands. What will my friends gonna say about this? About Cole being here? They've already bombarded me with annoying questions since yesterday when the news article circulated and the tweets on twitter might be trending already. I didn't check my phone since yesterday, afraid to see what's in it. My friends have been texting me probably and came here to check me out since I was missing in action.

 

“You.” I pointed my forefinger at him. “Stay here.” I warned him before I went out of my room.

 

====####====

 

 

The girls are in the living room, chatting noisily as usual like there's no end to their senseless gibberish when I reached the living room area on the second floor.

 

“Girls tuned down, will you? You're giving me one hell of a headache.” I complained as soon as I entered the spacious living room. The girls stood up automatically and darted toward me. Lucy gave me a bear hug. I rolled my eyes, but was a bit touched, I should admit. Lucy is the closest to me among the girls and the least mean among us. I could say, I like her the most in spite of her loud, gossipy mouth. The others gave me a peck on the cheek.

 

“We're glad you're OK, Syd.” Lucy said and the other girls were in accord.

 

“That was terrifying!” Carol squeaked.

“Yeah. We thought a bomb exploded or something.” Samantha said and the other girls commented in agreements.

 

“Well, thanked God it wasn't or I might be in hell now.” I said without humor. I'm still a bit sensitive talking about the unfortunate incident.

 

“So... Anyway, about the headlines, I'm pretty sure you've heard or read about it...” My brow creased as Lucy started. I'm kinda guessing where's this conversation is heading to. This is the thing I just don't certainly like about Lucy, her love for a good gossip. “About you and Cole---”

 

“Not true.” I interrupted and glared at her darkly.

 

“Oh.” Is all she said and the girls looked a bit disappointed. I stood there and glowered at them. Are they hoping that it was true so they can gossip about it? The thought is just making me more aggravated.

 

“Girls, I brought you some refreshments and these delicious macaroons were made by our new and wonderful patisserie.” Jacque went in with the snacks and behind her is Rita, carrying another tray of lemonade. I glared at her menacingly and the dumb girl cowered behind my mom. I'll deal with her later. I mentally reminded myself.

 

“Thanks Ms. Babineaux!” The girls chorused.

 

“Love the munchies!” Audrey clapped and dive in.

 

“Where's Cole?” Jacque asked innocently which made the room quiet. Lucy's macaroon froze just a few centimeters from her opened mouth after hearing Jacque's question and shot me a curious look. I slapped my forehead out of frustration. Sometimes my mom just does things that put me in an awkward situation. “What? Did he go home?” She continued, looking innocent.

 

“Where's Patty?” I asked all of a sudden when I noticed she's not around. She couldn't have gone home without telling me. Everyone seemed to just noticed now that I mentioned it.

 

“She went looking for the restroom, I guess.” Lisa said with a shrugged, then a scream came from the third floor, particularly near my room!

 

“What was that?” Almost everyone blurted out. I ran toward the stairs to my room, my mom and friends are following behind me.

 

“Slow down, Sydney. You might hurt yourself more.” Jacque called out from behind me, but I was not listening.

 

“What the hell is going on here?!” I asked angrily as we came just in time to see Cole on top of Patty while holding both of her hands over her head. I don't know why, but I can't rein the anger I felt upon seeing them in that intimate and awkward position. Cole let her go and stood up, looking cool as ever, like the situation is just as normal as it is. “I said what is going on here?!” I screamed. Cole stared at me, surprised to see the fury registering on my pale face then the bastard smiled smugly. He glided toward me and casually wrapped his left arm around my shoulders like it's a normal thing to do.

 

“Are you jealous, babe?” He whispered softly which had sent sparks through my whole being. I felt infuriated and embarrassed at the same time for the awkwardness turned the table on me. I pushed away from him.

 

“Of course not! You conceited jerk!” I hissed, then suddenly I realized, all eyes are on me. My face turned crimson as the situation sunk in. The girls just found out that Cole is in my house and not only that, he's in my goddamn room! That's when my mom interjected, but I'm not sure if I'll either be happy or will dread it.

 

“Come now, ladies, let's leave the two lovebirds to solve their quarrel and make up, shall we?” My eyes widen at my mom but she just winked at me. Waaahhh! This couldn't get more embarrassing, could it?! Patty also got up and ran toward the door when she finally had her wits back. I glowered at Cole when I noticed that he's not going out as well.

 

“Why are you still here?” I raised my eyebrow at him, but he just smirked at me.

 

“Didn't you hear your mom? She said to make up, so let's make up.” He said and was about to hug me when I glared at him. He chuckled and went to sit on my bed. “Your friend came in here and attacked me like I'm some kind of a thief, so I grabbed her hands and since she struggled a lot, I lost my balance and voila, we ended up on this bed when you came in.” He explained with an amused smile.

 

“Whatever. I don't need your shitty explanation.” I snapped, but deep inside I was relieved to hear his explanation and that is bugging me. He chuckled again and pulled my uninjured arm. I lost my balance and landed on his lap. I gasped and tried to stand up, but he tightened his grip on my waist.

 

“Your language, babe. Does your mom know?” He teased and pinched my nose.

 

“Shut up!” I lashed at him and hit his hand, but the bastard seemed to be enjoying the situation.

 

Let's make up?” He leaned forward to kiss me, but was disrupted when Lucy popped her head behind the door.

 

“Syd---OMG!---Lucy blushed when she saw us, but smiled wickedly at me---sorry to disturb you guys but, your mom said to check if both of you are still alive or are killing each other.” She giggled and continued. “Anyway, go down and eat if you're done.” She blurted and disappeared. I heard Cole laugh and surprised me again with a peck on my lips.

 

“You bastard!---”

 

“Let's go.” He ignored my complaints and dark stare. He pulled me up and grabbed my left wrist out of the room. I tried to wriggle free from him, but to no avail. I was dragged downstairs like a toddler afraid to see the dentist.

 

=====####====

 

 

“So, are you two dating?” Carol asked as soon as we're seated in the dining area, beating Lucy out in asking the question first. My mom insisted that they should stay and have dinner since it's already past six in the evening. I'm glad she went out to meet another so-called client so I can act whatever I want and not worry about her scolding me in front of my friends and Cole.

“Yeah.” Cole answered with a smug.

 

“No!” I yelled, mostly at him.

 

“Syd, about earlier, it was an accident---”

 

“Shut the hell up! I don't care what you two did!” I snapped at Patty, who looked like she'll cry. I wonder how can a cry baby like her be a mean bitch at school.

 

“Hey, Syd. It's OK if you're dating you know. It's not like you're prohibited to date or something.” Lucy mumbled and I shot her an annoyed glare.

 

“I don't appreciate you talking nonsense crap, Lucy.” She just shrugged. What's wrong with them?Have they forgotten that I hate men?!

 

“Excuse me, miss... We will now serve your asparagus soup---” Rita stopped talking when she saw my angry stare. The two other maids, pushing a gueridon trolley with brimming hot soup, disappeared as soon as they saw my expression, leaving the trolleys behind. I guess they're smart except for this stupid girl who is still beside me waiting for my wrath.

 

“Get the frigging hell out of my sight, you imbecile!” I yelled at her and finally she scrammed from my sight crying like a baby. I heard Lisa giggled. She likes it the most when my mean streak is switched on. I saw Audrey jabbed her fingers into her ribs while Samantha is busy typing something on her Blackberry. I'm guessing she's texting her boyfriend, Luke.

 

“Dang! I love asparagus soup!” Samantha blurted after she finished her texting and realized the situation.

 

“So, I guess we'll have to serve ourselves, our own soup since the ladies that were supposed to serve us ran like a scaredy-cat.” Cole muttered in amusement.

 

“You!” I pointed my finger at Cole. “Why don't you get out of my house?!” I hissed and walked off. I was in front of the stairs when my phone vibrated in the front pocket of my personalized denim tattered shorts. I pulled it out and paled after reading the email.

 

 

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: Mean slut

T0: Sydney Wood

I WANT TO SCRATCH YOUR EYES OUT BITCH!

JUST YOU WAIT...

“Shit.” I whispered and sat on the first step of the staircase.

“Hey. Are you OK?” Cole knelt down in front of me and took my phone from my hand when I didn't answer. I didn't notice that he followed me. His dark brows creased as he read the email. “Damn it, Sydney. We have to report this. Can't you see? This is a death threat!” Cole stared at me with an angry look.

“No. I can't. I just can't... My mom... No please...” I begged and cried. I just can't burden Jacque with another problem as I did last two years ago... I shook my head violently to get rid of the horrible memory of that rainy night.

“I don't understand why, but fine. Just—He raised his voice to emphasize his next words---on one condition...”

“What?”

“I'll stay by your side to protect you.”

 

======####======

 

 

“Don't you have a place to go home to?” I asked still a bit irritated. He made me or rather forced me to agree on his silly condition so that he'll not spill about the threats I've been receiving, to my mom. The girls went home already half an hour ago. They knew not to bug me when I'm not in the mood, but this Cole is just insensibly dumb or trying to be dumb not to notice that I don't like him being around me. He even followed me to my room like a sick puppy trying to catch his owner's attention.

 

“Can't I sleep here?” He gave me a boyish grin that is so damn cute that I almost pinched his cheeks.

 

“In your wildest dream.” I answered in a clipped tone.

 

“You are in my wildest dream.” He teased.

 

“Oh, shut up.” He chuckled and laid down on my bed. I automatically kicked him in the gut.

 

“Aww! Are you a soccer player or something?”

 

“What?” I asked, confused. He grabbed my ankle and examined it.

 

“I wonder how can this slender leg kick like a pro...” He said, grinning and kissed the side of my ankle. I furiously kick him again in the face.

 

“What the fuck---” He muttered and grabbed his nose. “I think you broke my nose.” I crawled on the bed to check on him when he didn't move while covering his face.

 

“Hey. I'm sorry. You were so annoying so---Hey! Are you OK? I asked kinda worried and touched his arm when he didn't move. “Cole! C'mon, don't be an ass and answer me. I'm frigging getting worried!” I yelled and to my surprise, Cole moved so fast. In split seconds, he is now on top of me, pinning me down on my bed with a big grin on his face. Honestly, what's with this situation where I usually get pinned down lately? The lying bastard tricked me! Now I just want to really break his nose.

“So... Miss Popular is worried for a nobody like me?” He grinned bigger when he saw my flushed face.

 

“N-no. Of course not, stupid.” Nobody?! He thinks he's nobody when he acts like somebody who doesn't give a damn about my tantrums and that I'm the most popular girl in school whom most kids fear, and that he's messing with! I screamed in my head.

 

“Liar.” He ran his slender fingers on my cheek.” I jerked at his touch as it feels like a volt of electricity sparked my inner being as it usually does every time he touches me or our skin make contact. I drew deep breaths to calm myself only to inhale his pleasant male cologne. I cleared my fuzzy mind to compose myself and looked him in the eye.

 

“It's late. I wanna take a rest now. Buzz off already.” I said firmly and pushed him, but he leaned more closer.

 

“Don't wanna.” He mumbled, still grinning. I really want to smack his face to wipe off that stupid grin.

 

“Get lost moron!” I hissed.

 

“We have a deal. I'll not tell your mom or the police if---”

 

“Oh, C'mon! It doesn't mean you have to stick your ass on me 24/7!”

 

“But it's not safe. That psycho might come here---”

 

“Ha! Are you kidding me? If you don't know, we have the best and highly advance security system in this house. So, I don't need your annoying ass hanging around here all the time!” He stared at me bemused for a second then he sighed.

 

“Fine. I'll pick you up tomorrow.”

 

“What? No!” He kissed the tip of my nose and got up, leaving me jaded.

 

This moron is trying to boss me around! Me? Sydney Wood?! Ugh!

 

 

=====####=====

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to comment/Add to your favorites if you like the story. Thanks!

 

xoxo,

 

Kenzhie A.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter seven: Mr. Pesky is on patrol 24/7

 

 

 

“Do you really have to do this?” I muttered as I got in his black Porsche.

 

“Yep.” He replied coolly and fired the car to full speed.

 

“Why?”

 

“Cause you're not yet capable of driving since you're still injured?” He glanced at my right wrist which is still encased in a cast.

 

“Hello! I only have one injured hand. I can still drive, dumb ass.” I gnarled, infuriated at his over-protectiveness which I don't understand. He's not my boyfriend and he's not even my friend to poke his nose in my business and acts like he is concerned of my wellness.

 

“Just lemme drive you to school for now, OK? I'm bored anyway so just think that you're doing me a favor.” He winked at me.

 

“What? So, you're telling me, you're doing this shit out of boredom and you just find me entertaining?!” I asked, quite annoyed.

 

“C'mon, Sydney, you know it's more than that.” He gave me a serious look which puzzled me.

 

“What are you talking about?” I glared at him with my face full of confusion.

 

“For a smart girl, you can be so dumb, clueless.” He muttered and pinched my cheek which I slapped instinctively. He chuckled and focused his attention on his driving. When we arrived at the school premises, I jumped off the passenger seat without looking back at Cole and almost ran toward the school building, afraid that someone might see us come together. “Thanks!” He shouted sarcastically behind me which I just ignored and continued walking fast toward my first period. The students stared at me while I walked into the school's hallway to my locker with pity, for the unfortunate turn of events at the HS which led me to the accident that caused me a fractured wrist that would probably last for 6-8 weeks before it'll completely heal according to Dr. Anderson and thanked God, just a minor concussion. Some stared at me with concern and curiosity, probably about the article and the caption about me and Cole and some looked like they're glad it happened to me since to them I'm a mean bitch. I say, to hell with them. Who cares what they think, anyway. I opened my locker to get my book in History when something white, fell on the floor from my locker. I picked it up and curiously opened it, my heart thumping as I was guessing what it is but was surprised yet relieved to see it's just a mere stupid love letter from one of my pathetic secret admirers I have in school. I gasped when from behind me someone grabbed the paper from my grasp.

 

“Cole! Don't just take something which is not yours! I hissed softly and looked around. I don't want us to be seen together and add up more gossip.

 

“Dear my lovely Sydney, I am your most loyal and faithful secret admirer. I always look up to you and I worship you in your pedestal. You are so beautiful---” I grabbed the paper back and threw it in the trash bin beside the locker area. Cole chuckled. “Wow! It looks like you have a die hard psycho for an admirer.” Cole commented amused.

 

“Like you're any better.” I mumbled mainly to myself.

 

“What did you say?”

 

“I said, don't just read other people's letters. It's just rude!” I snapped at him, then walked off, leaving Cole laughing. That moron is absolutely finding it amusing to pester me. I wouldn't for a second believe that he cares for me and that he wants to be around me to protect me as he stated. I wonder why that kind of thought pierces my heart. History class ended quite boring and so is my second period class. I went to meet my friends in the school's cafeteria during lunch time. Lucy waved immediately as soon as she saw me. As usual, the incident yesterday had been forgotten. They knew me too well not to linger with something they're used to witness from time to time when my tantrums surfaces. My ass just hit the bench when Harry with his varsity buddies joined the table. I'm actually against it, but the girls just would love to have a chat with some of the hot guys in school and I'm not really a party pooper to kill their little happiness.

 

“So, what's up with you and that Harrison guy?” Harry charged as soon as he sat beside me and draped his arm around my shoulders. I casually removed his arm and inched away from him.

 

“No touching.” I warned and gave him a cold glare. He stared back, looking a bit annoyed and affronted.

 

“No touching huh...” Harry breathed harshly. “ You say that to me yet you allow that bastard to touch you?” He accused with a dark glare and I got irritated by his attitude. These morons really wouldn't leave me alone.

 

“Harry, you know I don't like it when someone with the male specie talks to me in that way and for your senseless grouching I don't see why I need to explain myself. You're a nice friend and all but I don't think you have the right to question me.” I quietly said in a calm but mocking tone. He angrily grabbed my arm. I calmly looked around and see that the girls are still busy chatting with the boys and are oblivious to their surroundings particularly at our little skirmish.

 

“You listen carefully, Sydney. I've made it clear from the start that I don't want you just as a friend and if I don't get to have you, so are the other guys.” He whispered gravely and clutched my arm more firmly. I winced, but remained calm.

 

“Can't you see the lady is injured and you're inflicting more pain in her unfortunate situation?” I can't help but gasp when I heard Cole's calm yet intimidating voice. I don't know if it's because of just plain surprise or relief that he came to my rescue. No freaking way! I don't need his help in this kind of situation. It's nothing like I can't handle and probably he'll just worsen the situation. My mind strongly disagreed.

 

“Don't poke your fucking nose in someone's business, asshole!” Harry hissed and stood up. The two of them glowered at each other menacingly trying to appraise and intimidate each other. They have similar height, but Cole is a few centimeters taller than Harry. However, Harry has a more bulkier physique. The girls gasped in a mixture of surprise and fear for a possible collision when they finally realized what's happening. They stared at me with a questioning look, but I ignored them. I don't have time to answer their stupid questions right now. Harry's friends also came behind him to back him up. I narrowed my eyes at them as they're acting even more like morons. As a student representative of this school, I can't be associated with their impending rumble, but I also can't let them kill each other. I sighed and stood up between them.

 

“Boys, stop glaring at each other like idiots, will you? You're both grown ups and you---I pointed my fingers at Harry's friends who are looking at me like retards---grab your friend here before all of you get a suspension or worst expulsion.” I said calmly and thanked goodness the morons have brains after all and pulled Harry out of the Cafeteria.

 

“We're not over yet, Harrison!” Harry yelled furiously.

 

“Looking forward to that, Henderson.” Cole the ultimate moron scoffed like the idiot he is, trying to provoke bloodshed in his wake. Thankfully Harry's friends dragged him away already.

 

“Continue with your boring life and stop staring losers!” Lisa yelled at the curious students who are still eyeing us.

 

“What was that?” Lucy asked right away.

 

“Nothing. Just some stupid males brawling at each other, I guess.” I said with a shrugged.

 

“Seems like a cat fight to me.” Audrey exclaimed and the girls giggled.

 

“That hurts ladies. No thank you for saving your friend's ass from that asshole?” Cole acted hurt but the girls just laughed.

 

“Saved my ass? You could have worsened the situation!” I complained.

 

“The way I see it, you were in a difficult situation and I just saved the day.” He said smugly.

 

“Aye to that!” Lucy raised her diet cola and the girls, including Cole did the same. I glowered at them, but they just ignored me.

 

“Welcome back, by the way. We should have put up a welcome banner.” Carol said animatedly and Cole chuckled to that.

 

“Well, sorry for the... You know..” Patty muttered shyly. I gave her a dark stare, but the wench is busy flirting with Cole and didn't notice my grim gaze. The bitch is even batting her lashes at Cole. Does she wanna die in my hands?

 

“Nah. I should thank you ladies for getting me suspended. I kinda enjoyed it.” He said and gave me a meaningful wink.

 

“Gotta go to my next class girls.” I said and headed toward the door without waiting for their reply. I'm irritated again, not only to Cole but with the girls. They're beginning to like him and it's just making me more infuriated.

 

“Hey. Wait up.” Cole called me from behind, but I just walked continuously fast, but Cole with his long legs is pretty much faster than me and is now striding beside me.

“Stop following me.” I said without glancing at him.

 

“I'm not.” He replied innocently.

 

“So, why are still here with me?” I accused and shot him an annoyed glance.

 

“My class is in this direction too.” I eyed him suspiciously and when he also went into my Art class, I was awed.

 

“Don't tell me you're in this class too?” I asked wide eyed and went to my usual seat while Cole casually grabbed a seat beside me. I should have not forced my classmates to sit far from me. Now, Cole took that opportunity to sit on the empty chair since my classmates are afraid to sit beside me. Karma seemed to have found its way to me. I thought bitterly to myself.

 

“Yeah. Is that big of a deal?” I nodded, disbelief is still written all over my face. “Why do you think so?” He arched his thick eyebrow at me.

 

“Cause you look like someone who's only interested and good at pestering people and---I glared at his tattered jeans and black shirt with a black leather jacket---you look like some bad-ass kid who just wanna kick some ass or get your ass kicked and never did it ever cross my mind that you'll be interested in art.”

 

“Ha! Where did you get that lame idea?” He scoffed.

 

“Just by looking at you.” I said mockingly.

 

“Well, you definitely have a poor judgment, Sydney.” The art teacher came in and announced today's activity so I shut my mouth and placed my sketchpad on the stand. Today's activity is Contour drawing which is probably easy if my right wrist isn't acting strange. It isn't fractured but it still feel a bit sore from the fall. Dr. Anderson said it's just a muscle strain and will heal as early as one week.

 

“Hey.” Cole nudged my elbow and I shot him a cold stare.

 

“What?”

 

“I'm just wondering... How can you draw with your condition right now? He asked innocently while habitually scratching his jaw.

 

“None of your business.” I hissed.

 

“Ms. Wood, is there a problem?” Ms. Watson asked me warily.

 

“She's injured, ma'am.” Cole replied like he's my spokesperson or something. Ms. Watson arched her dark penciled eyebrow at him.

 

“You must be Mr. Harrison, the student who got suspended on his second day of class?” Ms. Watson looked at him disapprovingly.

 

“That's definitely me.” He said coolly.

“Well then, start doing your activity and try not to get suspended again, Mr. Harrison.” She said and Cole just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. Ms. Watson went back to look at me again. “So, Ms. Wood, I almost forgot about your accident. So sorry to hear that, but can you draw with your current state?” She stared pityingly at me.

 

“Yes, ma'am. My right wrist doesn't hurt that much, just a bit sore.” I smiled at her reassuringly and waved my right hand. Ms. Watson looked at me doubtfully and I don't blame her since I'm not quite sure of myself either. I should rest both of my hands, but I'm bored and I love this class.

 

“Alright then, if you insist. Good luck with your work.” She said and sat on her chair, but from time to time she goes around and check our work. So far, I have outlined some simple sketches and I'm glad it wasn't that awful yet not so good either. I let out a sigh. Honestly, it is pretty bad. I could say, my artwork looks like a preschooler can do better. I curiously take a peek at Cole's work when I noticed he's been quiet and seems pretty engrossed on his art. I was utterly stunned to see his artwork. It's really good, like a pro. Then my eyes widen when I realized what or should I say who is he drawing, it's ME in a side view angle. I'm not sure, but the girl has a striking resemblance to me. The hair, the prominent nose, and the body built. I went behind him and when he didn't seem to notice me, I poked his rib but he just ignored me still.

 

“Hey.” I poked him again, this time much harder.

 

“What?” He asked, still not looking at me and continued with his work. I've never thought getting ignored can be annoying and insulting. I childishly covered his sketchpad so he'll look at me. “Sydney, do you need my attention that much? I'm kinda busy here you know...” Cole eyed me like I'm some kind of a nuisance brat. Well, I do act like one.

 

“Who is this?” I asked, ignoring the annoyance in his voice.

 

“Who? What?” He stared down at me with confusion.

 

“This.” I pointed my forefinger on his drawing.

 

“Nobody.” He smiled at me finally when he realized what I'm fussing about.

 

“That's obviously not a NOBODY.” I protested with a pout and Cole chuckled softly.

 

“Don't act cute on me. I'll be distracted you know.” He teased and flicked the tip of my nose with his finger lightly.

 

“I'm not!” I want to hit him back, but Ms. Watson is heading toward our direction. I hurriedly went back to my seat and continued on my artwork which I can't' say is an art.

 

“Ms. Wood, I'll be considerate with you since you're injured but I'd hope that you can make a better artwork next time.” She said and went to look at Cole's work.

 

“Mr. Harrison, you have a beautiful artwork here. I can forget about my bad impression on you as people who can create a good art aren't bad, I believe. Well done. Please continue.” Ms. Watson said with a smile and went back to her seat after checking the other student's work. I glared at him, but he became engrossed with his work again, ignoring me. Today, I found out two things about Cole. He's an artist and when he's engrossed with his artwork, he seemed to create a world of his own, forgetting the people around him. I hate to admit it, but I find it kinda alluring.

 

=======####=======

 

 

“Are you really gonna stick your ass around me the whole day?” I asked incredulously when Cole is still following me after my last period and it seems like it's also his last class. The girls planned to go to a hair salon on Madison Avenue and now I'm heading to the school's parking area where I'll meet Lucy. I plan to hitch on Lucy's car, but Cole is acting like a real bodyguard. I wonder if he's willing to catch a bullet for me. I rolled my eyes unconsciously at the silly thought. Of course he wouldn't. He's not that stupid.

 

“Yeah. I'm like that gum on your pretty shoe, sticking on you annoyingly.” He smirked and pointed at my gray Prada suede lace-up ankle boot.

 

“Holy shit!”I wiggled my left booted leg, but the annoying gum keep on sticking like hell-crazy. “Who's the frigging scumbag who spewed this damn gum on the frigging goddamn floor?!” I shouted and scanned the area, but the students scrammed away from the hallway the moment they heard my angry scream. My nostrils flared even more when Cole burst into laughter. I aimed to kick him, but the asshole must really have a spider-man instinct as he easily dodged my leg.

 

“Hey! You're such a violent fox, you know that?”

 

“And you're an asshole!” I spat out and turned to walk again, but Cole grabbed my arm to stop me.

 

“What?!” I hissed and shoved his hand off me. To my astonishment, he knelt down in front of me. I thought he's gonna beg for forgiveness, but instead, he took out his hanky out of his jeans, hold my left ankle up and wiped the gum off my boot sole with his hanky. I gaped at him while he stood up and threw his dirty hanky in a trash bin.

 

“Happy?”

 

“Very.” I replied with a smug though I was quite taken aback.

 

“Are you now...” He smiled and pinched my chin. I hate to admit, but I find his simple gestures cute. With that thought I turned again and walked toward the parking area where Lucy is waiting while sitting on the hood of her red Corvette.

 

“Hey Harrison! Are you Sydney's dog or something? I can see you following her around like a lovesick puppy. I can even see your tail wagging with happiness tailing her.” Lucy teased with a giggle.

 

“You could say that. Though, I'd like the word, Her “Shadow 24/7” much better.” Cole joked back which Lucy found funny, so it seems since she laughed.

 

“New buddies?” I interjected sarcastically while glaring at the both of them. They just both smiled like some annoying kids asking for more candies in Halloween. “The girls went on ahead?” I confirmed and Lucy nodded.

 

======#####=======

I ended up getting a hitch in Cole's car instead of Lucy's. He really knows how to pull his string on me. He just mentioned about our little secret and I jumped in his car instantly. Lucy must probably believe that we're really dating now.

 

“Are you really that bored?” I asked out of the blue.

 

“What do you mean?” He gave me a curious look.

 

“Well, you're hanging around me like a bee. Don't you have a male friend that you can pester instead of me?”

 

“I like hanging around you like a bee.” He repeated my sentence with a smile. “Do you want me to hang out with the likes of that Henderson guy?”

 

“If you have a death wish, it's up to you.”

 

“So you think, I'll get beat up by him?” He asked, amused.

 

“No doubt.” I muttered remembering Harry's bulky and muscular physique. He's Manhattan High's quarterback after all. Cole just laughed at it. After some time, we arrived in front of Kate Spade. Carol's new found fave style; retro, neon-preppy style and luckily they are all here in Kate Spade. We're supposed to go to a hair salon to get a new haircut, but Carol sent a group message saying to drop in here for a quick shopping. I've heard they have some cool accessories here so I might buy some for myself. Cole and I just came in when a tall blonde approached him and wrapped her arms around him. My brow creased as Cole smiled down at her fondly. So, the bastard has a pretty girlfriend, but hangs out with me like a possessive freak. As shitty as it is, I felt something sharp plunged into my heart.

 

“Sarah.” Cole ruffled the blonde's hair same way he does to me a few times already and strangely, I didn't like it that he does the same thing to other girls. “Doing some shopping, kiddo? I thought you went home already?”

 

“I was about to but I was guessing you're not home yet so, I went for a lil shopping. Good thing, I did.” Blonde said smiling. It seems like they're living together and I was at their place twice but didn't see her. Great. Now, I would look like a slut who tries to still others unfaithful boyfriend. I winced at the thought and decided to leave them when Cole finally remembered my existence and called my name.

 

“Where are you going?” He asked with a serious look. The guts! He's caught already, but still no shame.

 

“To my friends, of course. I'll leave you with your girlfriend---I spoke the latter with emphasis—so you'll spend more quality time, I guess.” I glared at him when he laughed.

 

“Sydney, meet my lil sis, Sarah.” Cole laughed harder when he saw my face turned beet red. “Sis, this is Sydney.” Cole continued, stifling a laugh.

 

“Nice to meet you. My brother can't shut his mouth talking about you.” Sarah squeaked with excitement. I've never thought that Cole has a little sister. Well, I guess, I wasn't that interested to know. Then I remembered I've been to their place twice already and I didn't get to see her. Well, guess I was preoccupied most of the time I was there. I wonder if she knew I slept in their place and in Cole's bedroom at most. I certainly hope not. I wouldn't want to be the center of gossip in the whole Campus. That would be extremely troublesome.

 

“Did he now...” I arched my eyebrow at him, but he just gave me a shrug. We met the girls at the VIP salon on the top floor, lounging on a pink satin vintage sofa and they seem not to care at all that Cole is with me and his sister came along as well.

 

=======#####======

 

 

Hi guys!

 

 

What do you think of the story so far? Please tell me what you think in the comment box. :) 

 

PS-So, who do you think is sending threatening emails and stalking Sydney? Feel free to tell me who your guess is. Just comment or PM me. XD

 

xoxo

 

Kenzhie A.

Chapter eight: Nightmare from the past

 

 

 

After the shopping spree which I bought some colorful retro bangles and dangling earrings, I also even bought some fancy multicolored wraps, we decided to drop in at Godiva just beside Kate Spade for some exquisite and yummy chocolate treats. I'm totally into chocolate truffles and Godiva is the best. I bought two boxes of dark chocolate truffles and milk and dark Belgian chocolate-dipped strawberries. Not only that, before we head out for our next destination, we had a soft swirl of chocolate and vanilla on a chocolate almond waffle. It's really to die for. My mood even got better.

 

“So, chocolate is your weakness huh...” Cole smiled and leaned down to lick the smudge of chocolate on the side of my mouth. I gasped in shock and looked around, but thanked God the girls are busy licking their own ice cream to notice us. My eyes turned to Sarah and caught her smiling at me. Shit! This is just embarrassing! This bastard... In front of his sister.. He.. He... Ugh! I jabbed him in the rib so hard that he groaned in pain. I went to Lucy's side afterward and had a chat with her while we walked to a nearby hair salon just around Madison Avenue.

 

“Do you like him?” Lucy fired the question right away as usual for some juicy gossip like a dedicated reporter of some gossip magazine.

 

“Are you kidding me? Stop bugging me with your stupid question, Lucy.” I hissed and gave her a warning look.

 

“Fine. Just asking, you know. It's not like you killed someone by liking a guy or something.” Lucy grumbled, but shut her mouth when she saw my paled face. “Hey, are you OK, Syd?” I just nodded in response. I noticed that I'm being over sensitive these days and it's not good.

 

====####====

 

The anxiety I felt vanished into thin air after I saw my new hairstyle. I went for a golden brown to cool blonde ombre shoulder length with natural wave curls. I just love it. The other girls are also done with their awesome new look. I turned around when I heard Cole whistled from behind me and was stunned to see his new look. Carol and Patty convinced or the right term, forced him and his sister to do some makeover too. I've never thought that he could get even more handsome. His dark long layers were cut into medium shag with razor, and side-swept bangs and dyed into ash-brown. I blinked when the girls clapped in chorus.

 

“Damn! You look so hot with that hairstyle, Harrison.” Audrey squeaked and the others agreed, gleefully.

 

“Jeez, I thought I was already hot.” Cole joked and laughed when the girls rolled their eyes in unison. “Don't you think so, Sydney?” He turned his gaze back to me with a smirk.

 

“No.” I uttered, and turned around to hide my burning cheeks.

 

“Holy cow! Look guys, Sydney is blushing!” The evil bitch, Lisa blurted out and the girls giggled altogether.

 

“Shut the hell up, Lisa!” I said furiously as my heart beats continuously loud and fast. The stupid Cole came beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

 

“Don't we look good girlfriends?” Cole asked in an animated face.

 

“Thumbs up.” Lucy and Carol raised their thumbs up in agreement and the others just smiled. I don't know why, but my heart is racing crazily. I elbowed him and told the girls to go home. When we are in Cole's car, I was surprised to see Sarah. I just noticed she dyed her hair into a darker shade of chocolate brown.

 

“Do you like my new hair color?” She asked excitedly when she caught me staring. She's on the backseat while I sat on the passenger side as Cole insisted. The girls didn't seem too surprised when I told them I'll be riding with Cole. It's like they've accepted that Cole is already part of the group or something.

 

“Yeah. Looks good on you.” I said with a shrug. I don't normally praise other people, but she does look good as a brunette than a blonde. Sarah is a very sweet and bubbly girl. She talks a lot during the drive to my house and I found out that she goes to Manhattan High as well and is on eleventh grade. I wasn't surprised that I didn't notice her at school since I don't know most of the students in school.

 

“I love your new hair...” Cole whispered and twirled his fingers through my curls when his car stopped in front of my house. My face flushed uncontrollably again and before Cole can see it, I jumped out of his car already.

 

“Nice to meet you, Sydney!” Sarah waved her hand at me. I just nod and went in the house. I'm a snob after all, nothing can change that. I've just closed the door of my room when my phone buzzed. I dropped my shopping bags on the floor and took my phone out of my blue Prada tote bag. It's another email from that psycho!

 

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: DIE!!!

T0: Sydney Wood

DID YOU HAVE FUN WITH

YOUR BOYFRIEND, SLUT?

ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!!!

 

I threw my phone on the carpeted floor and slumped onto my bed. I'm so exhausted to be bothered by that nonsense email. Maybe next time, I'll go to a computer expert and let the emails be traced. Another email came. I lazily picked it up from the floor and thinking it's from that same psycho again, I tried to click “delete” but the subject caught my attention and shakily opened the email.

 

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: No conscience!

T0: Sydney Wood

I KNOW YOUR SHADY LITTLE

SECRET, MISS POPULAR...

 

=====####=====

 

 

“Oh my God! Wake up!” It's raining heavily and the rain is washing away the blood on the road as I nervously touched the girl's neck and I was glad that she still has a pulse. I grabbed my phone from my car, but it was drained empty. “Shit!” I panicked and looked around. There's no car approaching. I went back to the girl. “I'll be back, please don't die on me. I'll go get some help.” The scene changed and I am now at the dark empty graveyard. I stared at the tombstone when two bloody hands broke through the ground and gripped my legs. I fell down on the ground, screaming while I was being pulled under the ground, then a bone chilling voice whispered in my ear.

 

“Why did you leave me...?”

 

I woke up sweating and heaving uncontrollably. I glanced at the digital clock on my side table and it says five o'clock in the morning.

 

“Just a nightmare...” I muttered and shakily ran my fingers through my sweaty hair. I haven't had a nightmare for almost two years now, not after that email. I shook my head and got out of my bed. It's time for my routine run. It may help me calm myself. I hurriedly changed into my sweatpants and hoodie then went down. I inhaled the cold morning air into my lungs as I started running in a slow pace. The dark lanes are kinda creepy since there are no people in the area that I'm running at the moment but I don't mind. My mind is occupied with the nightmare and that email... Who is this person sending me those emails? It seems like whoever is sending me those emails knew about my past and somewhat holds a grudge on me. I'm now at Central Park when I bumped into someone. I glanced at whoever that is and saw a tall man with a black hood covering his face, stopped on his track for a moment, then continued on running without glancing back at me. Oddly, he seems familiar, but I can't point out who. I shrugged my shoulders and continued on running for about 3 miles before I decided to go back. On my way, I saw the same guy with the black hoodie just across the street of 5th Avenue glancing in my direction.

 

“Hey!” I called out, but the weird guy turned around to run but before that, I was able to catch a glimpse of the side of his face. “Cole...?” I whispered, but why would Cole be here at this time and why would he run away from me? That's pretty weird... I went back and took a shower as soon as I got in my room, still thinking about the weird guy, not minding how hard it is to take a shower with a cast around my wrist.

 

======####=====

 

 

“Sydney, are you alright, darling?” Jacque gave me a worried look when she noticed that I was just toying with my green salad.

 

“I had that nightmare again, mom...” I whispered quietly, not sure if she heard it, but when she gasped, I knew she did.

“Sydney, I thought we'd agreed not to talk about it anymore? It's a past and you didn't do it on purpose.” Jacque said, gravely.

 

“But nobody knew it was me!” I hissed.

 

“Lower your voice.” She warned and dismissed the maid that was about to bring her green tea. “Would you rather like it if the people knew and get your name tainted?” I didn't answer. Would it really make a difference if I had made it known? Would it erase my guilty conscience? I'm really not sure... My tears slowly pelted down my cheeks. I thought two years could erase that awful memory, but with one email... That email... Everything flashes back like it was just yesterday.

 

“Sydney, ma chére, don't be so hard on yourself and try to forget about it, OK?” She smiled when I nodded. “I love your new hairstyle by the way.” She commented and called back the maid to bring her tea. I wonder if my mom was just concerned about my welfare that's why she and my dad hid what happened two years ago or both of them just don't want to taint their own name because of me.

 

I walked like a zombie down the front porch steps when I heard someone calling my name from behind me.

 

“Sydney! Hey! Are you ignoring me again?” Cole grabbed my shoulders to stop me.

 

“Huh?” I stared at him, blankly.

 

“Hey. You look so pale... Are you sick?” He raised his hand to touch my forehead and his brow furrowed. “Dammit, you're burning, Syd.” He pulled my hand to guide me back up the porch steps again. I felt so weak and cold, so I didn't complain and just followed him. Cole suggested to use the elevator instead of using the staircase. On our way to there, Cole ordered Nora, one of the maids, to bring some medicine for the fever and some ice bag. I didn't complain either when he carried me up to my room when the elevator door opened. He probably noticed my knees were quivering and took pity on me. When we got in my room, he carefully laid me down on my bed and took the medicine from Nora, who came in afterward to bring what Cole asked for and helped me up to drink it.

 

“Where's, Ms. Babineaux?” He asked Nora right after I took the medicine.

 

“She went out just a minute ago, Sir. She'll be on a business trip to France for a week. Do you want me to call for the family doctor?” Nora asked when she saw me shaking hardly, almost convulsing.

 

“Yeah. And please inform her mom as well.” Cole ordered and went back to me, putting a blanket up on my shoulders. He then dialed something on his phone and talked to someone, informing about our absence for today. I didn't understand what else did he talk about on the other line since I'm beginning to doze off. I heard my door open and close many times and heard some people murmuring softly, then I just felt something cold and wet brushing against my skin. I groaned to complain when I felt a cold cloth on my face, down my neck, arms, and so on. Then I felt a cold bag on my forehead before I lost my consciousness.

 

====####====

 

 

“Why did you leave me?” The girl cried while her face and her hands are full of blood.

“Stay away from me!” I screamed as the chilling voice of a girl is chasing me in the graveyard. I tried to run, but tripped on a protruded root of a tree which suddenly appeared out of nowhere, then I felt the cold fingers clasped around my ankles and pulled me my down the wet ground.

 

I woke up screaming and sweating after having another nightmare. The same nightmare that's been bugging me for a long time, which I thought was over, but I guess I thought wrong and it sucks.

 

“What's wrong?” Cole sat up straight on the chair just beside the bed and looked at me, confused. He seemed to have just woken up from the way his hair looks, more messy than his usual tousled hairdo, and he has a sleep mark on his face. It's kinda funny actually seeing some red lines and wrinkles on his left cheek and forehead. A smile crept on my lips as I took in his funny expression. I somehow had forgotten about my awful nightmare. “Why are you smiling like a lunatic?” Cole creased his brow, but is smiling as well.

 

“Nothing.” I replied instantly, feeling my cheeks burning not from fever but from the embarrassment. I really hate that I'm feeling embarrassed around Cole nowadays.

 

“Hmmm... Good. Your fever had completely gone down.” He said approvingly while touching my forehead to check my temperature.

 

“Did you---”

 

“Nope. Wasn't me. It was Nora.” He said defensively, guessing my thoughts.” I sighed a relief. I would really beat him up if he was the one who wiped my whole body with that wet cloth. Suddenly, my cheeks turned red thinking and imagining about Cole running his hand on my entire body and how would it feel... “Hey, your cheeks are burning...” Cole exclaimed after touching my flushed cheeks. “Damn! Maybe your fever went back---”

 

“I'm fine. I just need to rest.” I muttered almost a whisper. I feel really ashamed with myself for thinking about those... Those... Shit! Stop thinking about it, Sydney! I castigated myself and went to lie down on my bed again.

 

“Anyway... Do you always have a nightmare?” He asked all of a sudden after a moment of silence.

 

“What do you mean?” I asked, alarmed.

 

“Well, while you were having a high fever and unconscious earlier, you were mumbling in your sleep like you were very scared about something or someone then you kept on screaming, and just now... You were also having a nightmare, right?”

 

“It's nothing. Aren't you going home?” I said, trying to change the topic. Cole didn't seem convinced, but let it off.

 

“Nope. I'm gonna sleep here.” He said with a smug and jumped on my bed beside me.

 

“Hey. Get off...” I sat up and pushed him weakly, but he just ignored me and laid his one arm over my neck, pushing me back on a lying position on my bed. I tried to wriggle free, but I'm too weak to struggle when he wrapped his arm around my waist and snuggled his face in the hollow of my neck, possessively. Oddly, it feels comforting to be in his arms so I just lay still in his embrace. “Won't your sister look for you?” I asked after a moment of silence.

 

“Hmmm...” He murmured, and nuzzled more closer to me.

 

“Hey.” I raised my free hand and tugged his shirt a bit too much which showed his flat and muscular stomach.

 

“Hmmm... I can't... You're not fully recovered yet, babe...” He mumbled hoarsely.

 

“What?!” I hit the back of his head in annoyance. He chuckled and felt his lips brushed against my collarbone. I froze when his lips moved up to my neck, then on my jaw making light trail kisses.

 

“Don't worry about my sister... She's a big girl now and is probably in her room studying or out with her boyfriend.” He whispered huskily and nipped my earlobe. I felt like I'm going to have a fever again as every skin his warm mouth touches, burns. “Your mom also called up and told me to take care of you until she comes home from her little trip.” I can't help myself when a moan escape from my mouth when he bit my lower lip then he licked my upper lip, toying with it. I shuddered as I felt his hands roamed around my body, teasing every part he touches.

 

“W-wait... W-hat are---” I tried to stop him and myself from grabbing his neck when he suddenly claimed my mouth passionately, cutting me off. I can't control myself anymore. I succumbed to my lust and raised my hand to grab his neck and the other raked through his soft hair, pulling him closer to me and kissed him back. He groaned and rolled over on top of me and deepened the kiss. I parted my lips giving him more access to my mouth when I felt his tongue pressing between my lips. I hungrily ran my hands under his shirt, feeling his abs and his chest with my trembling fingers. I felt his chest twitched at my every touch and it made me want to touch him more. I wanted to protest when he removed his mouth from mine, but moaned in pleasure when I felt his lips on my neck. His rough hands started caressing my thigh and then I felt the hem of my silk lingerie moved up my hips, waist, and halted on my neck. I opened my eyes when I heard Cole's breathing fastens and saw his eyes darken as he take in my almost naked body with only my skimpy black lacy underwear left. My face reddened and covered my exposed breast, but Cole pulled my hands away.

 

“I wanna see you baby... You're so beautiful...” He said in a hoarse voice and lowered his head to adore the peak of my breast with his mouth while he fondles my other breast with his rough, big hand. I moaned loudly and arched my body to feel him more, but he moved away from me all of a sudden and lowered the hem of my nightdress back on my thigh again. “Oh Sydney! I want you so badly right now, but we have to stop now. You've just had a fever and not fully recovered yet. You need to rest...” He croaked and sighed when he saw my flustered face. “Oh baby...” He mumbled and ran his fingers through his messy but sexy hair. I didn't open my mouth to curse him for kissing me and touching me. My mouth just remained shut while staring at him with awe. I should be mad at him, but he just looks so damn hot and sexy looking frustrated at himself about something. How can I when I liked it? I even bit my lower lip and squeezed my fingers closed to control myself from grabbing him again to kiss him and beg him to take me. “I think I should go now before I lost my control.” He said and kissed the tip of my nose. “Rest well and see you tomorrow.” I just stared at him while he gets off the bed and went out of the room. I stared at the closed door and sighed. How can I sleep now when I feel restless and sexually frustrated? Ugh! I'm such a slut! I slapped my face and sat up again on my bed and leaned my head on the tall headboard of my big bed. I glanced at my digital clock on my side table. It's just quarter to four in the afternoon. I got off the bed and washed up a bit and got dressed quickly. I have to go out and cool off my burning desire. I need to do something...

 

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Sorry guys, this book has not been edited yet. I learned that there are a lot of errors from the first chapter and so I plan to edit this whenever I will have a lot of free time and so are my other books. However, I hope you will still like this new chapter and please do tell what you think in the comment box. Thanks! x

 

xoxo

 

Kenzhie A..

Chapter nine: Feelings in turmoil

 

 

 

I ended up in front of one of the luxurious stores on Madison Avenue while I was walking endlessly with no destination in particular. I decided to go inside to look for something good to buy. It would usually make me feel better when I go shopping. It would normally work. I looked around as soon as I've entered but no one assisted me. I called the store clerk I saw, but she shot me a disapproving look as she gazed down at me. I got irritated by her odd reaction and also wondered because every time I would enter any high end stores, there would always be someone running to assist me, even the manager since I was not just a VIP customer but a VVIP. It got on my nerves that the stupid woman wasn’t moving her big ass to assist me. Infuriated, I walked or rather, I marched toward her, but stopped in my tracks and winced when I saw myself in the mirror. The reflection I was seeing was nowhere near of how I normally looked; The classy and sophisticated chic. It was pretty much the opposite. I was wearing a pair of customized tattered fitted jeans, a simple white oversized shirt, and black converse canvas shoes, which I’d only wear during my charity events—Truth to be told, it wasn’t that bad, but what ruined it all was my shoulder length hair that was tied in a messy ponytail and my face was bared from any cosmetics and looking so damn pale because of my very recent fever, so I looked like a lost teenage girl who went inside a very luxurious shop without knowing it. No wonder they were ignoring me. Honestly, it was my first time to ever go out looking so out of fashion and not even presentable enough to get any attention from the store clerks. This is all Cole's fault and that stupid psycho who keeps creeping me out with those emails, I thought inwardly. I needed a distraction and now I'd found one. I raised my chin up and glided toward the woman who already turned her back on me. Now, she's gonna have it. No one ignores Sydney Wood! No one!

 

“Hey!” I hissed and grabbed her shoulder harshly. She turned around, surprised to see me. “When I call your attention, you should rush to serve me, hear me?” I gave her my most intimidating look. She looked baffled at first, but gave me a fake smile afterward.

 

“I'm sorry, ma'am,” she replied innocently. “I didn't see you.  What can I help you with?” She went on with her innocent act, denying the fact that she ignored me on purpose and she didn’t even look the least apologetic, which got me even more irritated. What a bitch, huh...Let's see how bitchy can you be and how far can you last. I gave her my sweetest, yet wicked smile.

 

“Follow me and hold everything I choose. Be attentive,” I ordered and walked toward the expensive bags. The woman eyed me warily, but still followed me. I had picked a lot of stuffs already when my phone rang. I answered it without looking who the caller was since my mind was focused only on my target. “Hello?”

 

“Where the hell are you? I called you at your place and your helper said you went out.” My heart skipped a bit as I recognized Cole's voice. He sounded angry, though. I calmed myself first before I spoke.

 

“Where I am right now doesn't concern you. Stop bothering me,” I replied bluntly. I went out to cool off, but the insensible jerk kept on bugging me.

 

“Sydney, I told you to rest. Why did you go out?!” My temper flared, hearing his angry voice and his bossiness.

 

“Fuck off!” I shouted angrily and dropped the call. I was so frigging pissed and got pissed even more when I caught the store clerk glaring at me in a displeasing manner. I grabbed the most expensive bag and throw it in her face, but luckily she caught it before it landed on her face.

 

“Miss, please be careful. This item is very expensive and if you get this item even a tiny scratch—” I grabbed another item and threw it at her and this time she wasn't that lucky so the purse landed on the side of her face. “Aww!”

 

“Oops! Told you to be attentive, didn't I?” I said smugly while giving her an evil smile.

 

“You brat! You should go out,” she said angrily and grabbed my arm, dragging me out of the store. “I know you won't buy and you're just wasting my time!”

 

“Get your scrawny dirty hands off me,” I said calmly, but I shoved her hands off me and then I pushed her hard, enough to send her ass on the floor. The manager came running as she heard her staff's screeching scream.

 

“What's going on here, Ruth?” she asked, then turned her glance at me. “Miss Wood?” She acknowledged when she finally recognized me after assessing my appearance for a few seconds. I was a frequent customer and one of the valued customer at their shop so in spite of being a bit surprised by my unusual disheveled look, she still recognized me.

 

“M-m-iss W-wood?”

 

The young woman called, Ruth, looked at the manager then at me with a confused look while getting up from the floor. She skimmed my face more intently then her face turned pale white like a chalk. I grinned evilly before I faced the manager. “I think you should train your staffs not to be rude to customers or this shop will end up losing its valued customers. I'll be having a chat with the owner some other time to complain how awful the customer service here,” I said, derisively.

 

“I sincerely apologized for Ruth's rude behavior, Ms. Wood. She's just new here. Please try to understand and overlook this just once. I'm asking you this as a favor.” The manager begged and elbowed Ruth. The Bitchy turned Pitchy. I smirked. She was just my perfect distraction.

 

“I-Im so s-sorry, Ms. Wood. I didn't know---”

 

“Shut the hell up! You, a pathetic loser, looked down on me and you even dared to drag me out of this shop like a damn beggar. Do you know how pissed I am right now?”

 

“I’m really—”

 

“I said shut up! I'm not in the mood to shop here anymore,” I hissed and turned around to walk off, but the manager stopped me.

 

“Ms. Wood, please wait! We'll give you a discount—”

 

“Ha! Do I look like I need your fucking discount?” I glowered at her. I just realized being tall was advantageous as I intimidatingly stared down at them. “The next time I come here, that is, if I would ever come again, I would love it if I won't be seeing her—I pointed my forefinger at the teary-eyed, Ruth—in this shop again.” After saying my piece, I turned around to walk out of the shop, but halted when I saw Cole fast approaching me, but he just walked past me and stopped in front of the two women who were staring at him with admiration. I frowned and glared at them, but no one seemed to be interested in me anymore.

 

“I'm sorry ladies. Did my girlfriend bother you? Sorry about the ruckus. She's not feeling well today.” I was too flabbergasted to speak after hearing him. What the hell! He said I'm his girlfriend?! Did he say I bothered them?! My nostrils were flaring at the moment.

 

“Ah, um, not really, Sir.” The manager looked like she didn't know how to explain the situation.

 

“Are those the items she wants to buy?” Cole asked again while looking at the few bags I randomly picked.

 

“Ah, y-yes, Sir,” replied Ruth and glanced in my direction. She cringed when I shot her my blazing eyes and looked away.

 

“I see. I'll buy those then,” he said afterward, which angered me. I marched toward him and grabbed his arm to face me.

 

“What the hell are you doing?”

 

“I'm doing some shopping, I guess,” he answered in a sarcastic tone, which made me more annoyed.

 

“I said I wouldn't buy them anymore!” I grumbled out of frustration.

 

“So?”

 

“So, why are you buying them?!”

 

“Because I want to?”

 

“I don't want them anymore so don't frigging buy them!” I whined like a child and even stomped my feet.

 

“Sydney, I'm buying, not you. So don't fuss about it,” said Cole, sounding a bit irritated. He handed his credit card to the cashier, who had watched our arguments with awe.

 

“You—I pointed my finger at Ruth—if I still see you here next time, I'll ruin you,” I said calmly but my eyes were smoldering. I hastily walked out of the shop before they could all react. I was ten meters away from the shop when Cole caught up with me with the shopping bags on both of his hands.

 

“Sydney! Hey, wait!” Cole called out, but I continued on walking fast. I unwillingly stopped when Cole halted in front of me, blocking my way. I just stared blankly at him. “What's your damn problem?” He looked calm, but I could see that he was becoming impatient.

 

“You,” I said in a matter-of-fact tone and moved past him again, but he grabbed my arm. “Aw! Let go, jerk!” I wriggled my arm free from his grasp, but he tightened it.

 

“I know you're fucking mean, but you just can't go around and bully everyone you meet just because you can and just because they can't defend themselves from a rich and spoiled rotten brat like you.” My hand reflexively went up to slap him and honestly I wanted to slap my face as well because my eyes were starting to water. I unknowingly got hurt from what he said, and from his tone of voice. He was mad at me and I didn't like it. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but since I met Cole, I became such a crybaby and overly sensitive. I shook my head to clear my mind and before Cole could waken from his temporary shock from my slap, I pushed him off me and when his grip loosened up, I took that opportunity to run away. I was just glad I wasn’t wearing my usual high heeled shoes or I might have broken my leg from running so fast. After running for roughly six minutes, I stopped at Grand Army Plaza, panting from running nonstop and teary eyed. I harshly wiped the tears that was threatening to fall and continued on walking at a slower pace then I saw a hidden bench across the street near a vendor store and decided to rest for a bit. There was no one there and since it was getting dark, Cole would surely not see me. It appeared to be a perfect spot for hiding, so I sat comfortably while wiping the mixture of tears and sweat on my face with my hanky. I was surprised when someone suddenly sat next to me after a minute past. I automatically raised my head to check who it was but the stranger pressed his big hand over my eyes so I wouldn’t see him and his other hand gripped my neck in a threatening manner. I gasped in fear, but I didn't move.

 

“Don't scream or I'll break your neck.” A strikingly familiar, yet cold voice spoke quietly in my ear, making me shiver. Cole?! My head screamed his name, but somehow I was terrified of him. No doubt it was Cole. I recognized his voice even without looking at his face. However, his voice was icy cold and deadly dangerous like he meant what he said, so I nodded my head. “Good girl,” he whispered and patted my hair. I got goosebumps all over with that simple gesture, but I remained quiet while thinking of how to escape. The bench I was sitting on was a bit secluded and even though I knew there were people from afar, before I could scream and ask for help, my neck might be broken by then.  Is Cole that angry? He sounded very different... Lucy said he's a dangerous guy who is violent and got kicked out of school because of that and he is a drug addict as well... I guess it's true and now his true color is showing up because I made him mad. I shivered at the very thought. “Listen, I want you to kno—” I swiftly moved away from him when he got distracted by a car's honking sound and ran off like crazy without even glancing at him. I almost got hit by a cab when I crossed the street toward the 5th Avenue. Thanked God the cab halted before it could run over me. The cab driver yelled at me when I got in, for almost getting myself killed, but looked worried when he saw my pale face.

 

“Are you OK, kid?” The middle-aged, Afro-American man asked and stared at me through his rear mirror.

 

“Y-yeah. P-please drive,” I answered shakily, almost a whisper.

 

“Where to?” he asked and eyed me warily.

 

“54 East 64th street. Hurry up, please.” The driver didn't ask for more and just drove to the address I mentioned. It took just 2-3 minutes since there was no heavy traffic. I gave him a hundred bucks and jumped out of the cab as soon as the car stopped in front of my place.

 

“Hey, Miss! Your change.” The driver called out, but I just ignored him and ran toward the front porch. My eyes widen when I saw Cole, sitting on the porch steps with the shopping bags lying beside the front door. I turned around to run again, but Cole jumped from the top of the steps and easily caught me.

 

“Let me go, y-you psycho!” I screamed, but Cole covered my mouth with his hand. I got horrified and struggled to be free, but his strength was overpowering mine.

 

“God, Sydney, stop screaming already. What the heck is wrong with you?” Cole’s voice sounded different from earlier, but still I couldn’t stop myself from shivering out of fear.

 

“What's going on there, you two? Is that boy bothering you, Miss?” The cab driver looked at us as he got off his car. I felt relieved. Cole released me and stared at me with a mixture of confusion and worry. My heart was torn when I met his sad gray eyes. Immediately, I shook my head to clear my mind and ran toward the cab driver. The kind man placed his body in front of me protectively. “I guess she doesn't wanna talk to you, boy.” Cole ignored the cab driver and focused his gaze only to me.

 

“Sydney, I know you’re upset right now, so I'll leave you alone.”  He looked at me for a few seconds and sighed when he saw my scared reaction then turned around to leave. Finally, I was able to breathe well when I saw him get in his car and drove past my house.

 

“Did you fight with your boyfriend, girl?” The cab driver looked at me with an amused look now.

 

“Ah, um, no. Anyway, thanks and keep the change,” I said and before he could answer I ran toward the steps and went inside my home quickly. I felt quite relieved when I was already inside the safe zone of our house.

 

“Rita,” I called when I saw her before I stepped on the stairway. She looked shocked when she saw me. I couldn’t blame her since I was completely in disarray and sweaty at that.

 

“Yes, Miss?” she asked while her eyes were roaming around my sweaty face and disheveled clothes. If I wasn’t trembling with fear in that moment, I could have slapped her for staring at me rudely. The girl didn't have proper manners at all, but I thought I’d let it slip for the meantime. She got lucky that I wasn’t in a good condition to scold her or be mean to her or whatever. I just didn't have the strength to do anything. Even though I was sure that she was the one who told Cole where I was since she was the only person I told about my whereabouts earlier just in case my mom would call but I didn't tell her to give it to anybody. She was just plain stupid as ever and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her.

 

“Get the shopping bags outside and send it back to Collin Harrison's place. I'll give you his address later after I take a shower, got it?”

 

“Ah, um, should I deliver it to him personally or send it through a Courier service?”

 

I rolled my eyeballs in an utter annoyance. I wondered how my mom hired this kind of stupid maid. She just didn't have any common sense at all.

 

“Go figure it out yourself, Rita. I hope by doing so, you'll become smarter even at least the size of a pea,” I said and left Rita looking dumb as ever. As soon as I entered my room, I directly went to the bathroom and when I glanced at myself in the mirror, I cringed at the sight of me. I looked terrible. My face was so pale and stained with tears and sweat while my hair was chaotic like someone pulled my hair in a cat fight. My ponytail had already loosened and some curly strands hanged on my face in an even more messy way. I heaved a mouthful of air from my lungs and stood under the shower without taking my clothes off. I lazily turned on the shower and tilted my face up to meet the cold water on my face while I tried not to get my hand with a cast, wet. The cold water dripping on my face felt so good as it washed away the sticky sweat on my face and body. Then I remained there, standing like a statue while the stream of water flow continuously on my head, down my face, and all over my body, washing off the mixture of emotions I felt. I was both confused and scared and I didn't know what to do. I was just glad that my mom wasn’t around when I came home. It would surely cause her to worry and I didn’t want to bother her again about my problem. Worst part was, there was no one I could talk to. I had no friends that I could really talk to without getting my story publicized in the whole campus or in social networking sites. My foolish heart begged that I should go and talk to Cole, but it would be insane since he was the main reason of this turmoil I’d felt. I shuddered as I remembered the incident earlier. Cole acted differently when we met outside like nothing strange happened between us at the Grand Army Plaza. Does he have a split personality or something? I thought to myself. It could be possible. Oddly, my heart tightened at the thought of Cole being a psycho. I’d admit he'd been kind to me in spite of my rude treatment toward him. I even got him suspended, but so far all he did was being kind to me and just this morning he even took care of me when I was sick. Ugh! This is complicated and I'm going crazy thinking about it! If Cole is mentally unsound, then I almost had sex with a lunatic and it's even my first time! I turned off the shower when I started to sneeze and shiver from cold. I just realized that I'd been in the shower for almost half an hour and I wouldn't want to catch a cold. That would be bothersome, so I dried myself up, then grabbed my silk robe and draped it around me before I went out.

 

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I just finished drying my hair with the hair blower when my phone buzzed. I went to my bed and saw that I’ve got some few text messages, 3 missed calls, and an email. The texts were from the girls, checking me out and a text message from Harry, saying he was sorry. The missed calls were from my mom, Harry, and Cole. I was guessing Jacque called to check about my condition. I mentally reminded myself to call her back tomorrow morning before I go to school. Well, for Harry and Cole, I didn't give a damn. Men were lunatics aside from being idiots, I believed. Lastly, I checked the email which was sent just a few seconds ago. My eyes widen in a mixture of anger and fear, but my anger was greater. I've had a rough day and the email was just the icing on the cake, ironically speaking, of course. My life just couldn’t get any better... I thought bitterly. I read the email although somehow I knew it would get on my nerves, I still checked it nonetheless. Curiosity kills the cat; they would say…

From: Someone hating Miss Popular

Subject: DID YOU ENJOY YOUR DAY?

T0: Sydney Wood

I SEE YOU'VE ENJOYED YOUR

STROLL TODAY AND DID YOUR

BITCHY LIL THINGY. I WOULD REALLY

LOVE TO TEAR YOU INTO SWEET LIL

PIECES JUST AS YOU LOVE BULLYING

THOSE POOR LIL ONES BUT DONCHA

WORRY MY SWEET LIL BITCH... I WILL

SOON...

 

There was an attachment and curious as always, I downloaded it. It was a short video clip of myself, pushing the store clerk earlier. My brow furrowed as realization suddenly hit me. How did this psycho know so much about me and what I did today? Only Cole knew... Come to think of it... The emails all started after I met Cole! And he's the only one who calls me, Miss Popular! Shit! I've even seen him around while I was having my routine run. He is a frigging psycho who stalks me, threatens me in emails, and acted like he cares at times when in fact, he hates me and wants to torture me! I dropped my phone on the floor and curled up on my bed. What should I do?

 

 

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Hello dear readers!

 

 

It's a been a long, long while ever since I updated this book. I apologize about that. I had been busy and honestly, I wanted to focus and use my short free time to update my other book, "My boss is freaking ex" since the majority of my readers like it more. However, I'll do my very best to update this book as well. I hope you'd enjoy the new chapter. Happy reading!

PS-I was too lazy to proofread everything, so there's still a lot of errors. Please ignore it. I'll edit all the chapters when I get more free time.

 

 

xoxo,

 

K. <3

Imprint

Text: Kenzhie Addie
Images: The image(s) I use is/are not mine◆No copyright infringement intended◆
Editing: Kenzhie Addie
Publication Date: 05-27-2014

All Rights Reserved